Energy Exchange

EDF Climate Corps Trains The Next Generation Of Leaders At Tribal Colleges And Universities

By EDF Blogs / Published: April 5, 2012

By: Chaprece Henry, EDF Energy Efficiency Research Associate, and David Fox, EDF Energy Efficiency Coordinator

Last week, students from Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) attended the 31st Annual Student Conference featuring EDF’s Climate Corps team, hosted by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and NASA Innovations in Climate Education (NICE). The conference, held in Rapid City, South Dakota, attracted students from schools across the Great Plains and Midwest, including the College of Menominee Nation in Wisconsin, Salish Kootenai College in Montana and Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas.

Chaprece Henry and David Fox represented EDF Climate Corps at the conference by holding an energy efficiency training session focusing on no cost and low cost energy efficiency solutions for college campuses. About 20 students and five faculty members attended the session representing a range of academic sectors, including environmental science, renewable energy and engineering. Participants learned the ins and outs of energy efficiency from thermostat setbacks to lighting and heating upgrades to quantitative energy analyses. Everyone took home a certificate of completion, packet of energy assessment training materials and a flash drive containing financial analysis tools.

 What’s most exciting is the impact these students and faculty members will have their newly gained learnings and tools. Students will return to their respective TCUs to perform energy assessments and make the business case for energy efficiency, while faculty members plan to integrate energy efficiency into curriculums.

Reflecting on the training, Andi Geyer, Educational Program Manager at NICE, said, “I think this session had a really big impact on the American Indian students that participated. They are already attuned to the environment and the changes that are happening around them and are actively looking for ways to help.”

The training by EDF Climate Corps will have huge impacts for TCUs, as many of them are underfunded. Future energy efficiency projects spearheaded by students and faculty will not only generate energy savings to free up resources needed elsewhere, but also reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

EDF Climate Corps (edfclimatecorps.org) places specially trained MBA and MPA students in companies, cities and universities to build the business case for energy efficiency. EDF Climate Corps fellows analyze energy-saving opportunities and develop custom energy efficiency investment plans that cut costs and carbon emissions. If you would like to host an EDF Climate Corps fellow at your school, please contact Chaprece Henry at chenry@edf.org or visit edfclimatecorps.org for more information.     

Posted in EDF Climate Corps / Comments are closed

Strong Standards Are Needed To Protect Human Health From Harmful Air Pollution Emitted From Oil And Gas Activities

By Ramon Alvarez, Ph.D. / Published: March 30, 2012

Update: Please note that the EPA is now due to finalize the national emission standards for oil and gas activities by Tuesday, April 17.

On April 3, 2012 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is due to finalize national emission standards to limit some of the harmful air pollutants discharged from a variety of oil and gas activities.   As Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has noted in past blogs, leaks, venting and flaring of natural gas from oil and gas activities contribute to ground-level ozone (“smog”) and toxic air pollution.  As proposed, EPA’s standards would reduce volatile organic compounds that contribute to smog by 25% and hazardous air pollutants by 30%, through the implementation of proven and highly cost-effective practices and technologies. 

Emissions from Oil and Gas Activities Linked to Unhealthy Levels of Ozone “Smog” Pollution

Extensive oil and gas development in parts of rural Wyoming and Utah, where little other industrial activity occurs, has led to dangerous ozone levels, higher than those recorded in some of the most heavily polluted cities. Last year, families in Wyoming’s Upper Green River Basin suffered over forty days in which ozone concentrations exceeded the current health standard.  In Utah’s Uintah basin, residents experienced twice this number of unhealthy ozone days, with one monitor located in Ouray recording forty exceedances alone.

In 2009 then Governor of Wyoming Dave Freudenthal requested EPA designate counties within the Upper Green River Basin as out of attainment with the current ozone health standard explaining the link between natural gas emissions and the serious ozone problems: 

“The State of Wyoming is also challenged by the need to reduce emissions from the natural gas industry which has not traditionally been regulated for ozone nonattainment problems….Therefore, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) has already identified the sources that require controls such as drill rigs, pneumatic pumps, dehydration units and small heaters.”

EPA  in turn concluded “[t]he [Wyoming] AQD’s analysis provided with its recommendation shows that elevated ozone at the Boulder monitor is primarily due to local emissions from oil and gas development activities: drilling, production, storage, transport and treating of oil and natural gas.”

In Colorado and Texas, smog-forming emissions from the oil and gas industry have exceeded other major sources of pollution such as vehicles.   In 2008, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment concluded that the smog-forming emissions from oil and gas operations exceeded vehicle emissions for the entire state.  Similarly, a 2009 study found that summertime emissions of smog-forming pollutants from oil and gas sources in the Barnett Shale were roughly comparable to emissions from all of the motor vehicles in the Dallas Fort-Worth area.

Oil and Gas Activities Emit Benzene-A Known Carcinogen-and other Air Toxics

Venting, flaring and equipment leaks also emit hazardous air pollutants or air toxics, including hydrogen sulfide, formaldehyde and benzene into the environment.  Elevated levels of benzene have been detected near gas production sites in Texas and Colorado. In 2010 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) measured acute concentrations of benzene that exceeded the state’s health-based risk levels at two exploration and production sites in the Barnett Shale in Texas. Research based on air samples taken from oil and gas sites in the Piceance Basin in Colorado in 2008 determined that emissions from well completions, dehydration units, and condensate tanks posed an elevated cancer risk to nearby residents. Similarly, atmospheric measurements collected by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that “oil and gas operations in the DJB (Denver-Julesburg Basin) could be the largest source of C6H6 (benzene) in Weld County.”

As oil and gas development continues to expand across the country, strong, national clean air standards are essential to protect public health.  EPA’s standards, which build on clean air measures already in place in states with extensive oil and gas activities, such as Colorado and Wyoming, are an important first step in strengthening clean air protections for human health and the environment.

Posted in Climate, Natural Gas, Washington, DC / Read 1 Response

Approved sale of Four Corners power plant shows California regulations are working

By Tim O'Connor / Published: March 22, 2012

Today, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the sale of Southern California Edison’s (SCE) partial interest in the Four Corners coal-fired power plant to the Arizona Public Services Company.

This sale is another indication that California’s landmark climate and energy laws—including: AB 32, which puts a price on carbon; SB 1368, its electricity performance standard; and SB 2, its 33% renewable portfolio standard—are working to encourage state utilities to find ways to move toward cleaner energy sources, cut pollution, protect ratepayers, and maintain reliability.

According to long-term resource plans and investment initiatives, SCE intends to replace the 800 MW of power that was generated near the Four Corners landmark in northwest New Mexico with lower-carbon resources such as natural gas, renewable energy, and energy efficiency – all of which can create in-state jobs and economic activity.

Once the transaction is final, California will have dedicated contracts from four major coal-fired plants:

  1. Navajo (Arizona);
  2. Reid Gardner (Nevada);
  3. San Juan (New Mexico), and;
  4. Intermountain (Utah).

Of course, adherence to the California Environmental Quality Act and other applicable state and federal environmental standards must be observed in connection with investments or authorizations related to the sale of an emissions-generating source. Such provisions are necessary to ensure that documented emissions reductions are real and achieve the environmental benefits desired.

When this ownership transfer is complete, SCE’s contribution to California’s coal shadow will drop by approximately 5 million tons of CO2 annually, an amount greater than the largest in-state source of greenhouse gas pollution. (EDF first highlighted California’s coal shadow, which is the impact of coal-produced power sold into the state, in a 2005 report.)

EDF looks forward to working with the CPUC and California utilities as environmental regulations are used to reduce our state’s future coal shadow.

*Legal disclaimer: Nothing in this post is intended to comment on or provide findings or conclusions related to future or pending evaluations of compliance with federal or state law.

Posted in General / Comments are closed

National Clean Air Standards For The Oil And Gas Industry Provide A Trifecta

By EDF Blogs / Published: March 20, 2012

By: Peter Zalzal, EDF Staff Attorney, Climate & Air

Rigorous National Clean Air Standards for the Oil and Gas Industry are Needed to Protect the Health of Americans and our Communities

On April 3rd, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is due to finalize critically important standards to reduce harmful air pollution from oil and gas activities.  These standards are a trifecta: they protect human health and the environment, reduce waste of an important domestic energy source and save industry money through sales of recovered natural gas product.  For too long the industry has operated under insufficient, outdated standards that fail to protect Americans from the dangerous air pollution produced by oil and gas activities.

EPA’s proposed emission standards, which require companies to implement more efficient practices and technologies, will provide much-needed protections for human health and the environment and prevent extensive waste of a domestic energy resource.  In fact, these proposed measures will save approximately 180 billion cubic feet of natural gas, comparable to the amount of gas needed to provide heat to 2.7 million American homes for a year.    

Oil and gas facilities contribute to high levels of toxic air contaminants, ground-level ozone (“smog”) and methane, a potent greenhouse gas.  Ground-level ozone has been linked to serious respiratory illnesses, including asthma in children and premature death.  High levels of benzene, a known carcinogen, have been detected at locations in Texas and Colorado. 

Major public health groups including the American Lung Association, American Thoracic Society, the American Public Health Association, Trust for America’s Health and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America have urged EPA to finalize rigorous emission standards.

States with Strong Clean Air Standards Have Had Strong Growth in Oil and Gas Activities

Colorado and Wyoming have long carried out clean air protections similar to those now proposed by EPA.  Environmental Defense Fund evaluated key oil and gas economic indicators — operational rotary rig counts, producing natural gas wells and natural gas gross withdrawals — in Wyoming and Colorado and compared those with overall national data as well as data for other key oil and gas producing states. 

Between 2000 and 2009, both Wyoming and Colorado had the highest annual growth rates for gross withdrawals and the highest average annual growth in producing gas wells as compared to other major gas-producing states with less protective clean air standards on the books.  In short, both Wyoming and Colorado have had strong growth in oil and gas activity while important clean air standards have been in place.

Posted in Climate, Natural Gas / Tagged , | Read 1 Response

Energy Innovation Series Feature #2: Fuel Cell Technology From Bloom Energy

By Jim Marston / Published: March 19, 2012

Throughout 2012, EDF’s Energy Innovation Series will highlight more than 20 innovations across a broad range of energy categories, including smart grid and renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency financing, and progressive utilities, to name a few. This series will demonstrate that cost-effective, clean energy solutions are available now and imperative to lowering our dependence on fossil fuels.

For more information on this featured innovation, please view this video on Bloom Energy’s fuel cell technology.

California-based Bloom Energy is developing a different approach to power generation that has already had a profound impact on the way electricity is produced around the world.

Bloom Energy’s technology relies on fuel cells, which use an electrochemical process in which oxygen and fuel (natural gas or biogas) react to produce small amounts of electricity.  When these fuel cells are stacked upon each other and arranged into large modules called Bloom Energy Servers™ or “Boxes,” they produce up to 200 kW of on-site power.  This is enough power to meet the baseload needs of the average office building or 160 average homes.

Furthermore, this approach has the potential to reduce customers’ CO2 emissions by “40%-100% compared to the U.S. grid (depending on their fuel choice) and virtually eliminate all SOx, NOx, and other harmful smog forming particulate emissions.”  It also enables the possibility of affordable on-site, user-owned power generation that is as constant and reliable as a utility and   provides an attractive economic payback for customers.

This kind of technology is a win-win economically and environmentally; one from which all sectors stand to benefit.  The Bloom Energy Server also makes the micro-generation concept feasible.  Imagine subdivisions, apartment complexes or neighborhoods with their own carbon-free (if powered by renewables), mini power plants.

Source: Bloom Energy

Founded in 2001, Bloom Energy sold its first Bloom Box to Google and can trace its roots to the NASA Mars space program.  In the last few years, the company has lined up an impressive list of name-brand customers, including eBay, Walmart, Coca-Cola and FedEx and is rumored, according to GigaOm and others, to be “the supplier behind Apple’s planned massive 5 megawatt (MW) fuel cell farm to be built at its data center in Maiden, North Carolina.”  If built, this would be the nation’s biggest non-utility fuel cell installation.

In the U.S., much of the attention the Bloom Box has generated has focused on these large corporate customers.  But the on-site generation concept could make its biggest impact in developing nations like India and China, where small communities and villages don’t have an electric infrastructure and new energy sources are in high demand. 

The Bloom Box also has the potential to address problems here at home, with reliability concerns facing electric grids throughout the country. In Texas, where the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) struggles with how to add new capacity to meet growing peak demands and reduce water dependency at the same time, the Bloom Box offers an approach that can provide power at well below the peak prices paid for electricity during last year’s record drought.

To learn more about this topic, please view this post by Nobile Profit.

Update: eBay announced on June 21, 2012, that it will be using Bloom Energy fuel cell technology to construct a large-scale project at its data center in Utah. The proposed 30 fuel cells (the largest non-utility fuel cell installation) will run on biogas and will make their data center independent of the electricity grid.

Posted in Energy Innovation, General / Read 3 Responses

Western region can gain million-plus jobs, grow GDP by $142 billion by accelerating move to clean economy

By Tim O'Connor / Published: March 15, 2012

Speeding the development of clean energy in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia can generate more than one million jobs and $142 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020, according to a report released Tuesday.

It is the latest study showing that environmental policies can deliver broad economic benefits across industry sectors and to entire regions.

The report is a forward-looking assessment of how the West Coast mega-region can combine efforts to gain powerful competitive advantages. Among the key findings:

  • By 2020, the region’s clean economy could grow by more than 200% through the adoption of strategic policy measures, which represents up to $95.5 billion in new GDP contributions.
  • It is critical to put a price on carbon and use market-based approaches to drive innovation and investments that create long-term, sustainable employment.
  • The sectors with the highest job growth potential are: energy efficiency and green buildings; environmental protection and resource management; and clean transportation.

The West Coast Clean Economy Report was authored by GLOBE Advisors and The Center for Climate Strategies and released at the GLOBE 2012 Conference in Vancouver, Canada.

Posted in General / Comments are closed