News | WSPPN - Part 7

Jul

How to power California with wind, water and sun

Categories: News

Tags: california, electric power, energy efficiency, hydro, power, solar, Stanford University report, utilities, wind

Posted: July 28, 2014
Source: Science Daily.com

New Stanford research outlines the path to a possible future for California in which renewable energy creates a healthier environment, generates jobs and stabilizes energy prices.

Imagine a smog-free Los Angeles, where electric cars ply silent freeways, solar panels blanket rooftops and power plants run on heat from beneath the Earth, from howling winds and from the blazing desert sun.A new Stanford study finds that it is technically and economically feasible to convert California’s all-purpose energy infrastructure to one powered by clean, renewable energy. Published in Energy, the plan shows the way to a sustainable, inexpensive and reliable energy supply in California that could create tens of thousands of jobs and save billions of dollars in pollution-related health costs.

“If implemented, this plan will eliminate air pollution mortality and global warming emissions from California, stabilize prices and create jobs — there is little downside,” said Mark Z. Jacobson, the study’s lead author and a Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering. He is also the director of Stanford’s Atmosphere/Energy Program and a senior fellow with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy.
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Jul

Google maps methane leaks

Categories: News

Tags: boston, explosion risk, google, methane, natural gas, staten island

Comments: No

Posted: July 20, 2014
Source: Nature News Blog.com

Google’s fleet of city-mapping cars are now working to measure urban natural gas leaks.

The technology giant’s collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), announced on 16 July, equips Google’s Street View cars with sensors to detect methane leaking from ageing city pipes, through city streets and into the atmosphere. The sensors were developed by researchers at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

The project has released online methane maps for Boston, Massachusetts; Staten Island in New York; and Indianapolis, Indiana. The team found thousands of leaks in Boston and Staten Island at a rate of roughly one per every mile (1.6 kilometres) of road driven, whereas Indianapolis’s roads are leaking only once every 200 miles (322 kilometres) — a sign of newer infrastructure.

These leaks are too small to be a health or explosion risk, but they are also a growing climate concern; methane is 86 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, over a 20-year period, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Massachusetts passed legislation in June that requires utilities to speed up their pipe replacement, and California is considering following suit.
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Jul

Roughly $80 Billion Wasted on Power for Networked Devices, Report Says

Categories: News

Tags: energy consumption, energy efficiency, international energy agency, phantom loads

Comments: No

Posted on July 3, 2014
Source: Yale Environment 360

Click to Enlarge

Energy consumption of a typical game console.

The world’s 14 billion online electronic devices, such as modems, printers, game consoles, and cable boxes, waste around $80 billion in electricity annually because of inefficient technology, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). In 2013, networked devices consumed around 616 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity, with most of that used in standby mode. Roughly 400 TWh — equivalent to the combined annual electricity consumption of the United Kingdom and Norway — was wasted because of inefficient technology. The problem will worsen by 2020, the agency projects, with an estimated $120 billion wasted as devices such as refrigerators, washing machines, and thermostats become networked. Much of the problem boils down to inefficient “network standby,” or maintaining a network connection while in standby mode. Most network-enabled devices draw as much power in this mode as when fully active, the report notes. Using today’s best technology could cut energy consumption by 65 percent, the IEA said, and applying better efficiency measures over the coming years could save 600 TWh. That’s equivalent to closing 200 standard 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants, which would cut emissions by 600 million metric tons of CO2, the report says.

Jul

NPDES News: Pathogen FAQs Posted

Categories: News

Tags: clean water act, EPA, FAQ, fecal coliform, NPDES, pathogens, POTW, recreational water quality criteria

Comments: No

Posted: July 1, 2014
On June 30, 2014, the Water Permits Divison in EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management posted a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to the NPDES web site: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/pathogenfaq.cfm

This set of FAQs provides an overview of NPDES permitting applicable to continuous dischargers (such as Publicly Owned Treatment Works) based on water quality standards for pathogens and pathogen indicators associated with fecal contamination.

These FAQs answer questions to help EPA, state, tribal and territorial NPDES permit writers understand implications of changes to state water quality standards based on the 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria (RWQC), published November 29, 2012.

The 2012 RWQC recommendations are for two bacterial indicators of fecal contamination – enterococci and E. coli. Section 304(a)(9) of the Clean Water Act directed EPA to publish new or revised water quality criteria recommendations for pathogens and pathogen indicators for the purpose of protecting human health. A pathogen indicator, as defined in section 502(23) of the CWA, is “a substance that indicates the potential for human infectious disease.” Most strains of enterococci and E. coli do not cause human illness (that is, they are not human pathogens); rather, they indicate the presence of fecal contamination.

If you have any questions regarding the FAQs, please contact David Hair [hair.david@epa.gov] at 202-564-2287.

Jun

TRI-related research: University of California, Los Angeles – Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Categories: News

Tags: demographic, ecological, environmental impact score, EPA, revenue, toxicology, TRI, UCLA, University Challenge

Comments: No

Posted: June 27, 2014
UCLA students published Cal EcoMaps a website integrating TRI data with toxicology, demographic, ecological, and revenue data. Through this interactive map, you can find information on profiled facilities from four major industries in Los Angeles County. Each facility is assigned an Environmental Impact Score based on its percentile rank within its respective industry for five environmental impact indicators developed by the students.

To view the maps, environmental impact scores, and facility- and industry-level analyses, visit www.environment.ucla.edu/ccep/calecomaps

To learn more about our 2013-2014 partners and to read the selected proposals for the 2014-2015 school year, visit the TRI University Challenge website.

Jun

EPA Proposes Approval of New Climate-Friendly Refrigerants

Categories: News

Tags: climate friendly, EPA, refrigerants, significant new alternatives policy, SNAP

Comments: No

Posted: June 27, 2014

Proposal supports president’s Climate Action Plan by curbing emissions of potent greenhouse gases

WASHINGTON – In support of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to increase the options for refrigerants in the United States that offer better climate protection without harming the ozone layer. This is the agency’s first action that addresses refrigerants under the Climate Action Plan, which calls on EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program to identify and approve additional climate-friendly chemicals.

Under the authority of the Clean Air Act, EPA’s SNAP Program evaluates substitute chemicals and technologies that are safe for the ozone layer. This proposed action would expand the list of SNAP-approved substitutes to include more low-global warming potential (GWP) alternatives that can replace both the ozone-depleting substances and high-GWP hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

“Last June, President Obama introduced a broad set of initial steps designed to slow the effects of climate change, including reducing potent greenhouse gases,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “This proposal is a great example of how businesses and EPA can foster innovation by working together to identify refrigerants that better protect our environment.”
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Jun

Battery Recycling Model Bill Proposed

Categories: News

Tags: Battery recycling. call2recycle, environmental leader, model bill, national electrical manufacturers association, single use batteries

Comments: No

Posted: June 20,2014
Source: Environmental Leader.com

Four of the nation’s battery interest groups – the Corporation for Battery Recycling, battery manufacturers from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, The Rechargeable Battery Association, and Call2Recycle – announced the creation of a model recycling bill for consumer batteries June 12 at the Product Stewardship Institute’s National Batteries Stewardship Dialogue Meeting in Hartford, Conn.

According to Call2Recycle, the bill is the first time the four groups have teamed up to take shared responsibility for the collection and recycling of all single-use and rechargeable batteries. The model bill only covers consumer batteries, such as those found in portable electronic equipment, home smoke alarms and remote devices. The organizations behind the model bill expect that it will be introduced in selected state legislatures in 2015.

The model bill comes after the nation’s first single-use battery recycling law was passed in Vermont last month.

Under the Vermont law, manufacturers or sellers of single-use household batteries in Vermont will be required to plan, implement, and manage a statewide battery collection program by 2016. The law is a type of extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation.

There is currently a voluntary collection program in place for rechargeable batteries in Vermont.

More than 10 million batteries are sold in Vermont each year, according to estimates from PSI. However, the Institute notes there are very few recycling programs available to consumers.

Scott Cassel, founder and CEO of PSI, praised the four interest groups for working together in the area of product stewardship, and made a point of saying that their work will have long-term benefits.

Jun

Shop Your Values: What Does ‘Sustainable’ Really Mean?

Categories: News

Tags: consumer products, green building, indoor air quality, recycled content, sustainability, triple pundent, UL Environment, VOC

Comments: No

Posted: June 19, 2014
Source: Triple Pundit (People, Planet, Profit).com by

How do you measure sustainability? Most of us would have two to four quick answers: Energy usage, quality of materials, longevity or carbon footprint.

Now, how exactly do you quantify that? In other words, how do customers figure out if a clothes dryer is going to use an affordable amount of energy and be worth the purchase? How do they know if that lotion or conditioner they bought is really made of ingredients that are not only healthy but okay for the environment once rinsed down the drain? What if they need construction materials that are mold resistant and won’t create allergens or decompose from humid weather?

The answer, says Scot Case, director of Market Development for UL Environment, is the same approach we have, for years, relied on to ensure that toaster in the kitchen is safe to use, or the inspection that was used when your office was wired for lighting: validation and certification that sets thresholds and manufacturing standards.

“So if someone wants to make recycled content claim,” says Case, “[UL Environment] can validate that claim. If they want to make an energy efficiency claim, or a biodegradability claim, or a compostability claim, we can validate those specific environmental claims [as well].”
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Jun

EPA Identifies Safer Substitutes for Toxic Flame Retardants

Categories: News

Tags: design for the environment, EPA, public health, safer substitutes, toxic flame retardants

Comments: No

Posted: June 12, 2014

Identified chemicals are persistent, accumulate in the environment and have reproductive, developmental, and neurological toxicity

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing safer alternatives to the flame retardants now used in consumer and commercial products, including building insulation and products with flexible polyurethane foam.

“EPA’s findings for safer alternatives is great news for consumers and industry,” said Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “We will now have safer alternatives for use in our products from furniture to car seats to building insulation.”

Flame retardant chemicals such as hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and pentabromodiphenyl ether (pentaBDE) raise concerns for human health and the environment including potential reproductive, developmental, and neurological effects and can be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic to aquatic organisms.

EPA is releasing the final report on alternatives to the flame retardant HBCD and releasing an updated draft report on alternatives to the flame retardant pentaBDE. These alternatives were identified through EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) Alternatives Assessment Program.
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Jun

EPA Requires Ford to Correct Fuel Economy for Six Vehicle Models

Categories: Fleets

Tags: EPA, ford, fuel economy, mileage and emissions ratings

Comments: No

Posted: June 12, 2014

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Ford Motor Company (Ford) is revising the fuel economy (mpg) estimates for six vehicle models to correct errors found in an internal Ford audit. Ford is required to correct fuel economy labels on affected vehicles within 15 days.

EPA oversaw Ford’s re-testing program and conducted independent tests to confirm the corrected results as soon as it was notified by Ford of the potential errors. Ford has agreed to implement enhanced validation tests for future vehicles under EPA oversight.

“This issue highlights the need for continued strong oversight of the fuel economy labeling program,” said Chris Grundler, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. “Consumers need to trust that fuel economy window stickers are giving consumers reliable and fair estimates of real world fuel economy.”

Cars currently in dealer lots will be re-labeled with new window stickers reflecting the corrected mileage estimates. Ford will re-label four versions of the Ford Fiesta, the Hybrid and Energi versions of the Ford Fusion, the C-Max Hybrid and Energi, and the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. Most labels will change between 1-5 miles per gallon (mpg). The largest change is for the Lincoln MKZ hybrid whose combined city and highway fuel economy value has been reduced by 7 mpg. EPA and DOE have updated their joint fuel economy site, www.fueleconomy.gov, to reflect the corrected numbers.
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All posts in News

Google’s fleet of city-mapping cars are now working to measure urban natural gas leaks.

Proposal supports president’s Climate Action Plan by curbing emissions of potent greenhouse gases

Identified chemicals are persistent, accumulate in the environment and have reproductive, developmental, and neurological toxicity