Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Entire Swedish city switches to biofuels
Going green: Entire Swedish city switches to biofuels to become environmentally friendly Industrial community makes change with a minimum of cost, pain
Mar 3, 2009 Chicago Tribune
Laurie Goering
Mar. 3, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- KALMAR, Sweden -- Though a fraction of Chicago's size, this industrial city in southeast Sweden has plenty of similarities with it, including a long, snowy winter and a football team the town's crazy about.
One thing is dramatically different about Kalmar, however: It is on the verge of eliminating the use of fossil fuels, for good, and with minimal effect on its standard of living.
The city of 60,000 -- and its surrounding 12-town region, with a quarter-million people -- has traded in most of its oil, gas and electric furnaces for community "district heat," produced at plants that burn sawdust and wood waste left by timber companies. Hydropower, nuclear power and windmills now provide more than 90 percent of the region's electricity.
Kalmar's publicly owned cars and buses -- and a growing share of its private and business vehicles -- run on biogas made from waste wood and chicken manure, or an 85 percent ethanol blend from Brazil.
Just as important, the switch from oil and gas is helping slash fuel bills and preserve jobs in a worldwide economic downturn. And despite dramatic drops in fossil fuel consumption, residents say nobody has been forced to give up the car or huddle around the dining table wearing three sweaters to stay warm.
"We are not eco-freaks," said Carolina Gunnarsson, a sustainability officer with the Kalmar County regional council, as her teenage daughter, wearing a tank top, lounged on their living room sofa on a snowy February afternoon. "We're just making it easy to change, giving people the tools."
As President Barack Obama looks for ways to revive the sagging U.S. economy, create jobs, trim the country's dependence on foreign oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions, Kalmar's example -- achieved through a combination of political will and creativity -- may prove useful for Chicago and the rest of the nation.
"The technological part is possible. The bigger task is the cultural change, taking on the way of thinking," said Jonas Lohnn, a pastor and Kalmar city commissioner.
Sweden has been looking for ways to decrease its dependence on fossil fuels since the oil price shocks of the 1970s. Today climate change concerns are driving the changeover.
Kalmar, located in a thinly populated county heavily dependent on private cars for transport, is leading the way. The forested region, which has incomes lower than the national average, now gets more than 65 percent of its energy from renewable sources, a rate more than double that of Sweden as a whole.
By 2030, Kalmar plans to have no net use of fossil fuels, with any remnant use of gas, diesel or oil offset by exports of excess power generation from renewable sources, officials say.
"Politicians laughed at this idea at the beginning, when it was first presented," said Hakan Brynielsson, head of the Kalmar regional council. "Now 95 percent of politicians are convinced of the necessity of doing these things."
The region, which depends on forest-related industry for a third of its jobs, has managed the dramatic cutbacks in fossil fuel use without slowing economic growth. Thanks to lower fuel bills, government tax incentives for clean energy and a focus on turning Kalmar into a center for energy technology, business is booming, particularly for clean-technology industries.
Euronom, a traditional Kalmar oil boiler manufacturer, for instance, has transformed itself into a builder of high-efficiency renewable energy furnaces and heat pumps. This January its sales were double those a year ago.
Obama "is 200 percent right" about making money on energy efficiency and green retooling of industry, said Ake Hjort, Euronom's managing director. If the company were still building oil boilers, "we'd be bankrupt," he said.
Kalmar's push to reduce fossil fuels is evident everywhere. A local trucking firm, which employs nearly 450 people, has taught its operators fuel-efficient eco-driving -- moderate speed, no fast starts and stops -- and installed computers that track fuel efficiency and have cut diesel use by 10 percent, paying off the cost of the devices in just a year. Now the company is looking to fuel its future fleet with biodiesel.
A big wood pulp plant has figured out how to harness the steam and hot water it once released as waste to provide heating, through below-ground pipes, for a nearby town of 13,000, plus generate enough electricity to power its own operations and 20,000 homes.
Bicycle lanes have sprung up throughout towns, and cars line up at Kalmar city's public biogas pump. Building codes now require efficient insulation and windows for new construction or retrofits. Street lights sport low-energy sodium bulbs, and car dealers promote fuel-efficient and hybrid vehicles.
Residents say cutting back on fossil fuels has taken some getting used to, but it hasn't made life miserable -- and it's saving them money.
Nicklas and Sara Svensson, municipal workers who have a 3-year-old daughter, joined on a year ago as one of 12 Kalmar "climate pilot" families experimenting with ways to cut fossil fuel use.
Becoming vegetarian (meat takes more energy to produce than grains and vegetables) didn't go down so well -- "we really didn't make it [the transition]," Nicklas Svensson said. And they couldn't afford to trade their cars for hybrids, though he has taken to biking to work.
But the pair, who have a high-efficiency refrigerator and heat pump and do without a clothes dryer, have learned some new tricks, including buying more locally produced food.
"We wanted to do something so we could look [our daughter] in the eye in 20 years' time and say, 'We tried,' " Sara Svensson said.
Bosse Lindholm, Kalmar city's environment and sustainability development manager, says most of Kalmar's ideas could be adopted anywhere.
"It's important to have small victories, to go the right direction even at low speed rather than the wrong direction at high speed," Lindholm said.
lgoering@tribune.com
Mar 3, 2009 Chicago Tribune
Laurie Goering
Mar. 3, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- KALMAR, Sweden -- Though a fraction of Chicago's size, this industrial city in southeast Sweden has plenty of similarities with it, including a long, snowy winter and a football team the town's crazy about.
One thing is dramatically different about Kalmar, however: It is on the verge of eliminating the use of fossil fuels, for good, and with minimal effect on its standard of living.
The city of 60,000 -- and its surrounding 12-town region, with a quarter-million people -- has traded in most of its oil, gas and electric furnaces for community "district heat," produced at plants that burn sawdust and wood waste left by timber companies. Hydropower, nuclear power and windmills now provide more than 90 percent of the region's electricity.
Kalmar's publicly owned cars and buses -- and a growing share of its private and business vehicles -- run on biogas made from waste wood and chicken manure, or an 85 percent ethanol blend from Brazil.
Just as important, the switch from oil and gas is helping slash fuel bills and preserve jobs in a worldwide economic downturn. And despite dramatic drops in fossil fuel consumption, residents say nobody has been forced to give up the car or huddle around the dining table wearing three sweaters to stay warm.
"We are not eco-freaks," said Carolina Gunnarsson, a sustainability officer with the Kalmar County regional council, as her teenage daughter, wearing a tank top, lounged on their living room sofa on a snowy February afternoon. "We're just making it easy to change, giving people the tools."
As President Barack Obama looks for ways to revive the sagging U.S. economy, create jobs, trim the country's dependence on foreign oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions, Kalmar's example -- achieved through a combination of political will and creativity -- may prove useful for Chicago and the rest of the nation.
"The technological part is possible. The bigger task is the cultural change, taking on the way of thinking," said Jonas Lohnn, a pastor and Kalmar city commissioner.
Sweden has been looking for ways to decrease its dependence on fossil fuels since the oil price shocks of the 1970s. Today climate change concerns are driving the changeover.
Kalmar, located in a thinly populated county heavily dependent on private cars for transport, is leading the way. The forested region, which has incomes lower than the national average, now gets more than 65 percent of its energy from renewable sources, a rate more than double that of Sweden as a whole.
By 2030, Kalmar plans to have no net use of fossil fuels, with any remnant use of gas, diesel or oil offset by exports of excess power generation from renewable sources, officials say.
"Politicians laughed at this idea at the beginning, when it was first presented," said Hakan Brynielsson, head of the Kalmar regional council. "Now 95 percent of politicians are convinced of the necessity of doing these things."
The region, which depends on forest-related industry for a third of its jobs, has managed the dramatic cutbacks in fossil fuel use without slowing economic growth. Thanks to lower fuel bills, government tax incentives for clean energy and a focus on turning Kalmar into a center for energy technology, business is booming, particularly for clean-technology industries.
Euronom, a traditional Kalmar oil boiler manufacturer, for instance, has transformed itself into a builder of high-efficiency renewable energy furnaces and heat pumps. This January its sales were double those a year ago.
Obama "is 200 percent right" about making money on energy efficiency and green retooling of industry, said Ake Hjort, Euronom's managing director. If the company were still building oil boilers, "we'd be bankrupt," he said.
Kalmar's push to reduce fossil fuels is evident everywhere. A local trucking firm, which employs nearly 450 people, has taught its operators fuel-efficient eco-driving -- moderate speed, no fast starts and stops -- and installed computers that track fuel efficiency and have cut diesel use by 10 percent, paying off the cost of the devices in just a year. Now the company is looking to fuel its future fleet with biodiesel.
A big wood pulp plant has figured out how to harness the steam and hot water it once released as waste to provide heating, through below-ground pipes, for a nearby town of 13,000, plus generate enough electricity to power its own operations and 20,000 homes.
Bicycle lanes have sprung up throughout towns, and cars line up at Kalmar city's public biogas pump. Building codes now require efficient insulation and windows for new construction or retrofits. Street lights sport low-energy sodium bulbs, and car dealers promote fuel-efficient and hybrid vehicles.
Residents say cutting back on fossil fuels has taken some getting used to, but it hasn't made life miserable -- and it's saving them money.
Nicklas and Sara Svensson, municipal workers who have a 3-year-old daughter, joined on a year ago as one of 12 Kalmar "climate pilot" families experimenting with ways to cut fossil fuel use.
Becoming vegetarian (meat takes more energy to produce than grains and vegetables) didn't go down so well -- "we really didn't make it [the transition]," Nicklas Svensson said. And they couldn't afford to trade their cars for hybrids, though he has taken to biking to work.
But the pair, who have a high-efficiency refrigerator and heat pump and do without a clothes dryer, have learned some new tricks, including buying more locally produced food.
"We wanted to do something so we could look [our daughter] in the eye in 20 years' time and say, 'We tried,' " Sara Svensson said.
Bosse Lindholm, Kalmar city's environment and sustainability development manager, says most of Kalmar's ideas could be adopted anywhere.
"It's important to have small victories, to go the right direction even at low speed rather than the wrong direction at high speed," Lindholm said.
lgoering@tribune.com
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
HUD and CDC Push Healthy Homes Agenda
HUD and CDC Push Healthy Homes Agenda
HUD deputy secretary Sims: “Our homes ought to be a place where we can raise our children without fear of making them sick."
By:
Jenny Sullivan
Healthier homes can produce healthier Americans and a healthier U.S. economy.
That was the message in Washington Tuesday, where officials from the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) laid out some of the ways housing can affect public health, challenging the nation’s builders, healthcare providers, community organizers, and citizens to play a more proactive role in reducing preventable diseases and accidents in the home.
Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson issued an official call to action to promote healthy homes, asserting that poorly constructed and ill-maintained residences can contribute to endemic health problems such as asthma and lead poisoning. It’s a stance similar to former surgeon general C. Everett Koop’s 1982 battle cry publicizing the link between smoking and cancer.
"In the United States today, the leading preventable causes of death, disease, and disability are asthma, lead poisoning, deaths in house fires, falls on stairs and from windows, burns and scald injuries, and drowning in bathtubs and pools," Galson said during a press conference at the National Building Museum.
During that same event, HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims unveiled HUD’s new Healthy Homes Strategic Plan, a blueprint for housing reform stressing the need to keep homes dry, clean, well-ventilated, pest- and contaminant-free, safe, and well maintained. The document places particular emphasis on protecting the health of children and other sensitive populations in low-income households through improved construction practices and home safety precautions.
“Our homes ought to be a place where we can raise our children without fear of making them sick,” said Sims. “As a nation, we must think smarter about how we design, build, renovate and maintain our homes in a way that protects the health and safety of those who ultimately live in them.”
In 2007, asthma took a toll on the U.S. economy, representing $19.7 billion in direct medical costs and indirect costs associated with lost work and school days, according to estimates by the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute. One in five cases of asthma are linked to mold and moisture in the home.
Radon, another common hazard at home--including newly constructed residences--is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers.
“We must continue to work together across communities and the nation to ensure our homes are sited, designed, built, renovated and maintained in ways that support the health of residents,” Sims said, noting that green construction and rehabilitation practices are integral to the ambitious agenda that has been set forth by both agencies.
HUD’s strategic plan lays out four main goals: to build a national framework for implementing the healthy homes agenda; to support research on links between housing and health; to mainstream healthy homes practices and programs through grants, stricter regulations, and other measures; and to empower communities to build sustainable, local healthy homes programs.
During the event, officials stressed that negative issues linking substandard housing and public health problems must be addressed holistically. “For example, dealing with uncontrolled moisture can alleviate conditions associated with allergies and asthma (mold and pests), unintentional injuries (structural safety) and poisoning (lead paint deterioration),” authors noted in the executive summary of HUD's strategic plan.
The surgeon general’s call to action seeks to mobilize the country on several levels. Citizens are urged to make their homes safer through simple measures such as installing radon and carbon monoxide detectors, setting hot water heaters at 120 degrees to prevent burns, installing handrails and non-slip mats to prevent falls, and proper use of other safety devices and household products.
At the same time, the call to action recommends specific actions for lenders, developers, home builders and inspectors. Those include:
Training and implementation of healthy home and green building practices. (Click here for rankings of various green building certification programs by the National Center for Healthy Housing.)
Consideration of health and safety issues in the selection of building sites, construction materials and building systems.
The application of smart growth principals at the neighborhood or community development level.
Lending instruments that consider the financial benefits of healthy homes.
Dedicating funds from the Community Reinvestment Act to support the development of safe and healthy homes.
Training of home inspectors to identify and report on safety and health hazards.
Proposed government actions include using housing subsidies to promote mixed-income neighborhoods, enforcing healthy home code requirements, and modeling incentives for healthy homes on existing incentives for energy efficient products.
Many of the recommended actions could mean new business and new jobs for the home building and remodeling industries, notes Rebecca Morley, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), one of several nonprofit advocacy organizations supporting the surgeon general's entreaty. Some 5.7 million U.S. homes are in need of professional repairs, and roughly 24 million homes have lead-based paint hazards that need to be remedied, according to NCHH figures.
But health and safety problems aren't limited to older housing stock. New homes can also harbor health hazards, Morley warns. “New construction is equally prone (sometimes more so) to high radon levels, ventilation problems, and moisture issues," she said. "A new home is typically sealed more tightly than an older home. This is great for increasing energy efficiency, keeping out pests, and reducing drafts. However, if the design of the home does not provide for a way to replace existing air with fresh air, it creates an environment where airborne toxins and irritants, moisture, and radioactive radon gas seeping in through the home’s foundation can all build up.”
Jenny Sullivan is senior editor, design, at BUILDER magazine.
How to Build a Healthier Home
The National Center for Healthy Housing recommends the following practices for builders who want to construct healthier homes.
Make sure homes meet the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers standard 62.2 (ASHRAE 62.2, 2007). This is an industry standard for ventilation for buildings of four stories or less. Mechanical ventilation helps ensure contaminants and humidity are exhausted to the outside and that the home receives clean, fresh air. Additionally, it can benefit occupant health by increasing comfort and reducing unplanned airflows which can result in moisture problems.
Install proper smoke and CO2 alarms in all new homes. Carbon monoxide causes 450 deaths and 15,000 emergency room visits per year, and death in a house fire is 50% more likely in homes without smoke alarms. Carbon monoxide and smoke alarms often cost less than $25, a small price to pay for safety.
Add ducting for an active sub-slab soil depressurization radon reduction (fan-powered) system. If tests determine that radon is a problem, the fans for the system can be added and activated. Radon is a tasteless, colorless, and odorless gas that is a decay product of uranium and occurs naturally in soil and rock. The main source of high-level radon pollution in buildings is surrounding uranium-containing soil such as granite, shale, phosphate, and pitchblende. Radon enters a home through cracks in walls, basement floors, foundations, and other openings.
HUD deputy secretary Sims: “Our homes ought to be a place where we can raise our children without fear of making them sick."
By:
Jenny Sullivan
Healthier homes can produce healthier Americans and a healthier U.S. economy.
That was the message in Washington Tuesday, where officials from the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) laid out some of the ways housing can affect public health, challenging the nation’s builders, healthcare providers, community organizers, and citizens to play a more proactive role in reducing preventable diseases and accidents in the home.
Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson issued an official call to action to promote healthy homes, asserting that poorly constructed and ill-maintained residences can contribute to endemic health problems such as asthma and lead poisoning. It’s a stance similar to former surgeon general C. Everett Koop’s 1982 battle cry publicizing the link between smoking and cancer.
"In the United States today, the leading preventable causes of death, disease, and disability are asthma, lead poisoning, deaths in house fires, falls on stairs and from windows, burns and scald injuries, and drowning in bathtubs and pools," Galson said during a press conference at the National Building Museum.
During that same event, HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims unveiled HUD’s new Healthy Homes Strategic Plan, a blueprint for housing reform stressing the need to keep homes dry, clean, well-ventilated, pest- and contaminant-free, safe, and well maintained. The document places particular emphasis on protecting the health of children and other sensitive populations in low-income households through improved construction practices and home safety precautions.
“Our homes ought to be a place where we can raise our children without fear of making them sick,” said Sims. “As a nation, we must think smarter about how we design, build, renovate and maintain our homes in a way that protects the health and safety of those who ultimately live in them.”
In 2007, asthma took a toll on the U.S. economy, representing $19.7 billion in direct medical costs and indirect costs associated with lost work and school days, according to estimates by the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute. One in five cases of asthma are linked to mold and moisture in the home.
Radon, another common hazard at home--including newly constructed residences--is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers.
“We must continue to work together across communities and the nation to ensure our homes are sited, designed, built, renovated and maintained in ways that support the health of residents,” Sims said, noting that green construction and rehabilitation practices are integral to the ambitious agenda that has been set forth by both agencies.
HUD’s strategic plan lays out four main goals: to build a national framework for implementing the healthy homes agenda; to support research on links between housing and health; to mainstream healthy homes practices and programs through grants, stricter regulations, and other measures; and to empower communities to build sustainable, local healthy homes programs.
During the event, officials stressed that negative issues linking substandard housing and public health problems must be addressed holistically. “For example, dealing with uncontrolled moisture can alleviate conditions associated with allergies and asthma (mold and pests), unintentional injuries (structural safety) and poisoning (lead paint deterioration),” authors noted in the executive summary of HUD's strategic plan.
The surgeon general’s call to action seeks to mobilize the country on several levels. Citizens are urged to make their homes safer through simple measures such as installing radon and carbon monoxide detectors, setting hot water heaters at 120 degrees to prevent burns, installing handrails and non-slip mats to prevent falls, and proper use of other safety devices and household products.
At the same time, the call to action recommends specific actions for lenders, developers, home builders and inspectors. Those include:
Training and implementation of healthy home and green building practices. (Click here for rankings of various green building certification programs by the National Center for Healthy Housing.)
Consideration of health and safety issues in the selection of building sites, construction materials and building systems.
The application of smart growth principals at the neighborhood or community development level.
Lending instruments that consider the financial benefits of healthy homes.
Dedicating funds from the Community Reinvestment Act to support the development of safe and healthy homes.
Training of home inspectors to identify and report on safety and health hazards.
Proposed government actions include using housing subsidies to promote mixed-income neighborhoods, enforcing healthy home code requirements, and modeling incentives for healthy homes on existing incentives for energy efficient products.
Many of the recommended actions could mean new business and new jobs for the home building and remodeling industries, notes Rebecca Morley, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), one of several nonprofit advocacy organizations supporting the surgeon general's entreaty. Some 5.7 million U.S. homes are in need of professional repairs, and roughly 24 million homes have lead-based paint hazards that need to be remedied, according to NCHH figures.
But health and safety problems aren't limited to older housing stock. New homes can also harbor health hazards, Morley warns. “New construction is equally prone (sometimes more so) to high radon levels, ventilation problems, and moisture issues," she said. "A new home is typically sealed more tightly than an older home. This is great for increasing energy efficiency, keeping out pests, and reducing drafts. However, if the design of the home does not provide for a way to replace existing air with fresh air, it creates an environment where airborne toxins and irritants, moisture, and radioactive radon gas seeping in through the home’s foundation can all build up.”
Jenny Sullivan is senior editor, design, at BUILDER magazine.
How to Build a Healthier Home
The National Center for Healthy Housing recommends the following practices for builders who want to construct healthier homes.
Make sure homes meet the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers standard 62.2 (ASHRAE 62.2, 2007). This is an industry standard for ventilation for buildings of four stories or less. Mechanical ventilation helps ensure contaminants and humidity are exhausted to the outside and that the home receives clean, fresh air. Additionally, it can benefit occupant health by increasing comfort and reducing unplanned airflows which can result in moisture problems.
Install proper smoke and CO2 alarms in all new homes. Carbon monoxide causes 450 deaths and 15,000 emergency room visits per year, and death in a house fire is 50% more likely in homes without smoke alarms. Carbon monoxide and smoke alarms often cost less than $25, a small price to pay for safety.
Add ducting for an active sub-slab soil depressurization radon reduction (fan-powered) system. If tests determine that radon is a problem, the fans for the system can be added and activated. Radon is a tasteless, colorless, and odorless gas that is a decay product of uranium and occurs naturally in soil and rock. The main source of high-level radon pollution in buildings is surrounding uranium-containing soil such as granite, shale, phosphate, and pitchblende. Radon enters a home through cracks in walls, basement floors, foundations, and other openings.
Renewable Energy Jobs Boom In Europe
Renewable Energy Jobs Boom In Europe
by Energy Matters
A new study by the WWF has revealed that of the 130 million people employed in the European Union altogether, in excess of 3.4 million European jobs are directly related to renewable energy, sustainable transport and energy efficiency related goods and services - far more than the 2.8 million jobs in polluting industries.
Indirect jobs related to the green collar sector are estimated at approximately another 5 million.
Close to 400,000 people are employed specifically in renewable energy activities, such as the manufacturing, installation and maintenance of wind turbines and solar panels.
The leading European countries for wind power are Germany, Spain and Denmark. For solar power jobs, Germany and Spain are the front runners. Germany and Spain have or had generous gross feed in tariff programs that were major contributors to the solar power boom in both countries.
Germany, which experiences far less sunlight than countries such as Australia, is light years ahead in solar power uptake. Germany commands close to half the global installations market and is also a leading producer of solar cells.
Even with the current global financial crisis taking a toll, the report says all European countries are showing significant growth in green collar industries, with particular focus on wind power, solar photovoltaic, bioenergy, public transport and building sectors.
European wind industry employment has the potential to reach 329,000 jobs in 2020 says the report, and 377,000 in 2030. Under fairly conservative assumptions, Europe’s solar panel related workforce is expected to expand strongly 1.4 million.
by Energy Matters
A new study by the WWF has revealed that of the 130 million people employed in the European Union altogether, in excess of 3.4 million European jobs are directly related to renewable energy, sustainable transport and energy efficiency related goods and services - far more than the 2.8 million jobs in polluting industries.
Indirect jobs related to the green collar sector are estimated at approximately another 5 million.
Close to 400,000 people are employed specifically in renewable energy activities, such as the manufacturing, installation and maintenance of wind turbines and solar panels.
The leading European countries for wind power are Germany, Spain and Denmark. For solar power jobs, Germany and Spain are the front runners. Germany and Spain have or had generous gross feed in tariff programs that were major contributors to the solar power boom in both countries.
Germany, which experiences far less sunlight than countries such as Australia, is light years ahead in solar power uptake. Germany commands close to half the global installations market and is also a leading producer of solar cells.
Even with the current global financial crisis taking a toll, the report says all European countries are showing significant growth in green collar industries, with particular focus on wind power, solar photovoltaic, bioenergy, public transport and building sectors.
European wind industry employment has the potential to reach 329,000 jobs in 2020 says the report, and 377,000 in 2030. Under fairly conservative assumptions, Europe’s solar panel related workforce is expected to expand strongly 1.4 million.
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