Leeds is ready to win (Photo: British Gas – Green Lane)

Earlier this year, on this blog, we told you about three families in Medford, Massachusetts, who competed to save energy and reduce their carbon footprints on the “Energy Smackdown” reality TV program (Power Plug, 1/29/08). A sequel, of sorts, “Green Streets,” is under way in Britain.

A national competition that began in January, “Green Streets” pits 8 homes on 8 streets across Britain in a contest to save energy and slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The current leaders, residents of Green Lane in the town of Cookridge, have cut energy costs by 29.32%. The think tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which is monitoring the exercise for British Gas, projects that if the performance of the eight streets were replicated nationwide, it could save £4.6 billion and cut GHG by 20%.

The competition comes at a time when one of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers, EDF Energy, recently announced it was raising gas prices by 22% and electricity rates by 17%. Other major energy suppliers are expected to follow suit.

Green Streets’ organizers have equipped all 64 entrants with varied energy-efficient technologies — from new water tanks and boilers to solar panels. While there’s friendly competition between the households, participants are more likely to swap tips. Families have adopted energy-saving tactics such as turning the oven off five to 10 minutes before the end of the recommended cooking period, making sure energy-using devices are unplugged when not in use and replacing an electric lawnmower with a human-powered one.

One of the participants — Janine Lewis of Leeds — says that what’s struck her is that it’s her family’s behavior which really makes the difference. “Just the simplest things, like drawing the curtains later at night in the summer and keeping the lights off. Not putting the children’s school uniform in the washing machine every day. Not leaving things on standby,” she told the Guardian.

“One of the most striking things has been how cosy everyone feels because of their new insulation. You don’t have to suffer by saving energy,” adds Leeds energy adviser Alan Pickard.

Halfway through the competition, the IPPR is ready to publish three draft recommendations. According to Matthew Lockwood, senior fellow for IPPR’s climate team, the first is extending the competition by offering £4 million annually from the Treasury as prizes for similar inter-town energy-saving contests. The second is recruiting a national force of energy advisers, which IPPR estimates would cost about £500 million annually — miniscule compared with the £4.6 billion saving on national energy costs — which currently total about £23 billion.

The final reform would repeat on a national scale the £30,000 British Gas has given to the eight streets to pay for new energy-efficient equipment. Green mini-mortgages are suggested as one way to fund energy efficiency projects. A three-year loan at a 7% rate of interest would be offset by £395 annual savings in fuel bills, according to IPPR.

• Related: “Reality TV Spotlights Home Energy Use in ‘Energy Smackdown’” (Power Plug, 1/29/08)

Small wind turbines can work where larger ones aren’t viable (Photo: Flickr)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently issued an executive order to city departments to fast-track permitting for small wind projects. In an effort to jumpstart the projects, Newsom and Supervisor Tom Ammiano assembled a team of 12 technical advisers and convened a 20-member Wind Taskforce made up of wind companies, environmentalists and engineers who will work to change zoning to encourage wind projects and perhaps propose an incentive program.

According to American Wind Energy Association numbers cited by Greentech Media, the small wind power market grew more than fivefold in two years to reach 37 megawatts of new capacity, valued at $117.2 million, in 2006. Despite the frenetic growth, small-wind systems still accounted for less than 0.3% of U.S. wind installations that year.

Within the last year, the City of San Francisco has installed four pilot projects, including a 2.5-kilowatt system at the Randall Museum in the Mission District and three much smaller turbines on two buildings in Bernal Heights and the Castro, Johanna Partin, San Francisco’s renewable energy program manager, told Greentech Media. The city is also testing a vertical-axis wind turbine on Treasure Island, and is hoping to work with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to create a testing facility for rooftop-scale wind. The city has already approved permits for two other pilot projects, which haven’t yet been installed, and is testing wind speeds at 27 sites to potentially develop more.

Partin says San Francisco is pursuing small-scale wind power because it doesn’t have powerful enough wind (or, I would argue, enough available land) for large wind farms inside the city. But, city officials are working to develop offshore wind, which could result in much larger projects. While small wind systems have capacities of less than 100 kilowatts, today’s largest offshore wind turbines are each able to generate an astonishing 7 or 7.5 megawatts.

• Related: “Southwest Windpower Says New Turbines Bring Residential Windpower Into the Mainstream” (e-Newswire, 7/12/06), “Compressed Air Poised to Store Surplus Wind Electricity in Iowa and California” (Power Plug, 5/28/08) and “San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to Build Model Green Headquarters ” (e-Newswire, 4/18/07)

The CherryPal uses just 2 watts in active mode (Photo: Greentech Media/CherryPal)

Earlier this month, CherryPal released a Linux-based computer about the size of a paperback book that uses just 2 watts of electricity (not including the monitor) in active mode, reports Greentech Media. By comparison, a regular desktop PC uses about 114 watts in active mode and a notebook consumes about 19.5 watts.

Depending on the utility rates where you live, CherryPal could cost as little as $1.58 to run 8 hours a day for an entire year. According to Greentech Media’s Michael Kanellos, running a PC for the same amount of time would cost about $35 or more, depending on your utility rates (Kanellos used $0.1026 per kilowatt-hour, the U.S. average earlier this year), or what you do with your computer.

CherryPal plans to sell the device to consumers and schools in the U.S. and in developing countries first through its website and later on Amazon.com. It retails for $249.

• Related: “New No-Cost Software, Edison, Cuts PC Energy Use, Can Save Up to $60 Per Machine Annually” (e-Newswire, 8/20/08) and “Ecos Researchers Develop Energy-Efficient Computer That Boasts 70% Energy Savings” (e-Newswire, 4/16/08)

Researchers in the Netherlands are experimenting with giant kites that tap into the strong winds at high altitudes to generate electricity. Initial experiments with a 10-sq. meter kite tethered to a generator produced 10 kilowatts (kW) of power, enough to power about 10 homes. Researchers plan to test a 50-kW version of their invention, called the LadderMill, and eventually create a multiple kite system that could generate 100 megawatts, enough to power 100,000 homes.

The Laddermill project is not alone in attempting to harness the stiff winds at high altitude to generate electricity. Last year, Makani, an Alameda, California-based company, secured Google.org backing to generate clean kite power. And, in January of this year, staff writer Stacey Meinzen wrote on this blog (Power Plug, 1/31/08) about the Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS), developed by Magenn Power. MARS uses a helium-filled balloon, equipped with electrical generators and tethered to the ground by a conductive copper cable, to reach winds at up to 1,000 feet.

The Laddermill kites, meanwhile, generate power by pulling on a line which drivers a generator on the ground. The kites reach up to 800 meters, where wind speeds are considerably stronger (7 meters per second) than those commercial wind turbine blades can access at about 80 meters (5 meters/second). Here’s a link to a short video showing a Laddermill kite in action:

Despite efforts made to improve its energy efficiency, cement making is still an incredibly carbon-intensive industry. According to the U.S. EPA, cement production is the nation’s second largest source of industrial carbon dioxide emissions.

Scientific American recently reported that Calera, a California company, says it has developed a process that will transform cement production from a carbon-producing process into a carbon-sequestering one.

Calera says it has developed a process to capture CO2 from fossil fuels plants, such as this one at Moss Landing along the California coast, and use it as a feedstock to manufacture cement (Photo: Flickr)

Power plants like Moss Landing on the California coast (pictured at right) currently emit 700-degree Fahrenheit fumes that contain at least 30,000 parts per million of CO₂. Calera’s process would bubble those fumes through seawater, using the CO₂ and other pollutants to take calcium and magnesium out of the water and create carbonate for cement.

Producing cement today results in the emission of roughly one ton of CO₂ for every ton of cement. Calera’s process would reverse this equation and would sequester up to half a ton of CO₂ for every ton of cement produced. Combine Calera’s process with the carbon-sequestering cement-making process developed by Carbon Sense Solutions that we profiled in the current e-Newswire (8/06/08), and there is a huge opportunity to reverse a large portion of the industry’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

With nearly 2,800 natural gas and coal power plants nationwide, and thousands of miles of coastline, there is no shortage of the raw materials — CO₂ and seawater — needed for this technology. If Calera’s process can create a cement product that meets the standards of the construction industry, it could have dramatic impacts on the GHG emissions of both the cement and electricity generation sectors.

Trilogy by Shea Homes is offering a free 3-kilowatt (kW) solar electric system to buyers of select homes in Arizona, Washington, Florida and here in California through August 31. After that date, the systems will be available as an upgrade in all new Trilogy communities. Through a partnership with BP Solar, Shea will be offering PV systems that will reduce energy bills by up to 60% in the homes. This comes in addition to the 30% efficiency savings that these homes already achieve under the Shea Green Certified standards.

Through Aug. 31, buyers of Shea’s Trilogy line of homes will receive a free BP Solar EnergyTile rooftop-integrated PV system (Photo: BP Solar)

To maintain a consistent aesthetic look, Shea is using BP’s EnergyTile and Integra systems. The EnergyTile is an integrated system that mimics the look of concrete roofing tiles, while the Integra systems allow for low-profile installation on asphalt roofing shingles. Residents will be able to track their system’s performance and energy savings through Web-based monitoring.

The systems will save homebuyers money from the day they move in, and hedge against rising electricity prices for years to come. That describes the obvious appeal for homebuyers. Shea, for its part, surely must know, as we recently wrote about in our e-mail newsletter, that new solar homes are outselling traditional new homes 2-to-1 in California (e-Newswire, 8/06/08).

Along with a PV system, each Shea Green Certified home includes solar attic fans, recycled cellulose insulation, sustainable wood, framing techniques that use 10% less wood, sealed ducts and penetrations, satellite/weather controlled irrigation systems, ENERGY STAR qualified appliances, duel-pane low-E windows and lighting controlled by occupancy sensors. Each 3-kW solar home will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 18 tons over 10 years.

Shea Homes says that with its Trilogy line it will be the first national homebuilder to offer solar power systems in all of its communities.

Artist’s rendering of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s soon-to-be-completed 104-kW PV installation (Illustration: Advanced Energy Systems)

Last week, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) broke ground on the first solar installation located along a major U.S. highway. The 104-kilowatt, ground-based photovoltaic array is the first phase of the Oregon Solar Highway, a project that will eventually place 2 megawatts of solar power along the state’s roads, and which we first wrote about on this blog in January (Power Plug, 1/11/08).

The PV system, located at the intersection of Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 in Tualatin, near Portland, will account for 28% of the electricity needed to power lights at the interchange when it comes online by the end of the year. Through a net metering agreement with Portland General Electric (PGE), the electricity produced by the panels and sent to the grid during the day will be matched by an equivalent amount of power supplied by PGE to light the interchange at night. After state and federal tax credits, ODOT will pay standard commercial rates for electricity from the roadside panels.

In a boost for the state’s green workforce, this first Oregon Solar Highway project will rely entirely on Oregon companies for labor and materials. SolarWorld AG of Hillsboro will supply the panels, PV Powered Inc. of Bend will supply the inverter and SolarWay, a consortium of four Oregon firms, will provide the design, construction and installation.

The Oregon Solar Highway is the brainchild of ODOT Project Director Allison Hamilton. Her inspiration, she told The Oregonian, came from images of solar panels located along Germany’s autobahn highways she saw on the PBS series “Nova.”

Early next year, ODOT plans to solicit proposals to install solar projects capable of producing 2 million kilowatt-hours, or about 4.5% of its annual electricity consumption. The request won’t limit companies to ground-based arrays. ODOT officials say they are interested in giving solar panels double duty as sound walls in residential areas, or attaching them to buildings and existing sound-deadening walls.

• Read these related Power Plug posts: “Solar Roads Show Potential for Power Generation” (4/7/08), “Roadside Renewables” (1/11/08) and “Clever New System Uses Asphalted Roads to Collect Solar Energy for Heating” (12/17/07)