Greener Triangle

5th Annual NC Sustainable Energy Conference

2008-04-03T15:17:00.000-04:00

This year's NC Sustainable Energy Conference will focus on current forces driving energy efficiency and alternative energy, the role of infrastructure and carbon emissions and how new technology is making sustainable energy resources available and affordable. An exhibit hall featuring businesses and agencies doing work in these fields and an alternative fuels "Car Corral" will be available, as well an awards luncheon and an evening reception. Break-out sessions on April 8 will cover:

Public buildings and energy
Mass Transit and Infrastructure
Residential efficiency update
Using schools to advance sustainability
RECs and Carbon Credits
NEW for 2008! New Technology Showcase
Plus- an REPS update from our utilities

The April 9 sessions will feature targeted technical sessions for public agencies, architects and industry. Read about it and register here.

Power like Plants

2008-02-18T22:04:00.006-05:00

Researchers at Penn State have developed a proof of concept device that splits water to harvest its hydrogen. Taking a page from plant biology, researchers have now developed a process that more closely mimics the photosynthesis process in plants. Such a system could eventually attain 15% or so efficiency, providing a nice and clean way to gather power for that fuel cell car of the future.

While this appears to be a very eco-friendly production method, the method published in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society in July 07 proposed that modified aluminum powder can be used to react with water to produce hydrogen at room temperature and under normal atmospheric pressure. Far more likely to be used in the short term, this method negates the need for expensive equipment while offering a cost-effective means to produce large quantities of hydrogen.

An inexpensive, green source of hydrogen will be essential for companies like Raleigh-based Microcell, a manufacturer of PEM fuel cells. A proton exchange membrane fuel cell transforms the chemical energy liberated during the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to electrical energy, as opposed to the direct combustion of hydrogen and oxygen gases to produce thermal energy.

The biggest barrier to hydrogen fuel cell adoption is still the cost and complexity in production - it would be a fitting solution to close the loop on this source of clean power via a process that all life on Earth is already dependent upon.

Earth Hour 2008

2008-02-14T09:52:00.003-05:00

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for that time.

With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydney-ites, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.

On March 31, at 8pm local time, you can participate in a simple event that has positive effects on the environment and sends a message to our political officials that we are serious about environmental stewardship. Encourage your friends and workplace to get involved. Here at GreenerTriangle, we've sent a letter to the Raleigh mayor and council members encouraging Raleigh's local government to participate; help us by sending along a letter of you own. Learn more and sign up at the Earth Hour homepage!

Wake County to Offer Free Emergency Response, Safety and Environmental Issues Training

2008-02-13T21:51:00.003-05:00

Business owners, educators and public safety professionals are invited to learn about important environmental, safety and emergency response issues at the Business, Environmental and Safety Training (BEST) Conference on Wednesday, February 20, 2008, from 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., at the McKimmon Center on the campus of NC State University, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh.

The BEST Conference is designed for leaders from small businesses, public safety agencies, educational institutions, state agencies and professional organizations who wish to learn about such topics as Climate Change & Carbon Management, Biosafety Practices, Green Energy, Transportation of Hazardous Chemicals, Continuity of Operations and Hazardous Waste Management. Five tracks will be offered as concurrent workshops, and vendors from around the region will display their products during the conference. Conference registration, parking and lunch are free. Attendee sign-in and vendor exhibitions begin at 7:30 a.m.

The BEST Conference is presented by the Wake County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), with assistance from the Emergency Management Division of Wake County Public Safety. Other sponsors include Progress Energy, HEPACO, Ajinomoto Aminoscience and Covidien/Mallinckrodt.

Please visit the LEPC website for conference registration and further information or contact Wake County Emergency Management at 919-856-6480. The deadline for preregistration is February 15.

Water solution or water polution?

2008-02-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

NBC17 reported this evening about the enormous amount of water being wasted by a phosphate mine (run by PCS Phosphate) in Aurora, NC. While a plan to pipeline this water is still a distant dream, there are those who see an opportunity to develop a solution to the Triangle's water woes.

The jury is out on the feasibility of a $160 million dollar pipeline stretching down either the 264 or I-70 corridor, but what is certain is that the daily 58 million gallons of wasted water needs to be used for something other than negatively altering the ecology of the Pamlico Sound as it drains from the Castle Hayne aquifer. The aquifer - formed between 40 and 24 million years ago during the Oligocene - runs the entire length of the state, and is connected to an underground water system that runs all the way north to New Jersey. Since 1965, PCS has been pumping 60-65 million gallons of water from the aquifer into the sound every day, using only around 10 million gallons per day for their processing facility. The rest is being removed from the aquifer to depressurize it and ensure safe mining conditions.

If the pricey pipeline was constructed, it could offer water to a number of drought impacted communities, including aiding the Triangle's demand for 41 million gallons per day. At approximately $20,000 per inch of diameter per mile of distance, the pipeline would weigh in at a daunting $1 million per mile. Still, when compared to the cost of creating a new reservoir, this is a price tag that some officials may be willing to pay.

But let's not gloss over the fact that PCS is currently petitioning the US Army Corp of Engineers for permission to expand their facilities and destroy an additional 3500 acres - 2400 of which is wetlands - in Beaufort county along the South Creek and Pamlico River. If granted, this would be the largest wetlands impact in NC history, and PCS's track record on reclamation is dubious at best.

Since 1965, they've only reclaimed 14% of the land they've mined. While the phosphate mine does employ a number of NC locals (also making PCS a tidy $10 million per year), the Albemarle-Pamlico sound is one of the most productive fisheries of the nation, employing thousands and generating over $1 billion dollars of revenue annually. The destruction of these fisheries isn't readily reversible, and will cause repercussions long after the phosphate has been depleted and PCS has moved on.

Despite PCS’s claims that there is only one option that they can pursue, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined that they can profitably mine two alternate sites; PCS claims these alternatives would be too expensive and has hinted that following the lessened impact plan could result in loss of revenue, jobs and eventually cause the closure of the plant.

In the event a permit is granted, PCS should be required to first mine the extensive phosphate reserves they already own before expanding their facilities to the more environmentally vulnerable areas. And they should definitely be required to mitigate all the environmental impacts of their mining process, while protecting nearby bodies of water from operational contamination.

Before we look at this as the Triangle's holy grail for water, we need to pay attention to what it could really cost us.

Phone book recycling

2008-02-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year. Carriers are sending out phone books by the truck load. Pounds of paper showing up around your neighborhood to be relegated to the bottom shelves of coffee tables until the next batch shows in another 12 months.

According to Los Gatos, California's Green Valley Recycling, if all Americans recycled their phone books for a year, we would save 650,000 tons of paper and free up two million cubic yards of landfill space. For each 500 books recycled, we save 7,000 gallons of water, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 17 to 31 trees and 4,100 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power an average home for six months.

Unfortunately, many recyclers won't accept telephone books because the fibers used to make the books' lightweight pages are too short to be reformulated into new paper, and at present only 120,000 tons are actually recycled.

If you're in Durham or Orange county, simply place your old phone books in your curbside recycling bin. In Wake county, residents and businesses can recycle unwanted telephone books February 4, 2008, until May 9, 2008, during Wake County's Annual Telephone Book Recycling Program. (Find a location near you.) You can also recycle telephone books year round at the North Wake and South Wake Multi-Material Recycling Facilities.

If you're like me, and you use a phone book rarely, if ever - the best solution may be to eliminate it entirely. Most providers now offer an online version of their directory listings that are not only searchable, but always up to date.

BellSouth: www.realpageslive.com
Talking Phone Book: www.talkingphonebook.com
Sprint: www.bestredyp.com
Verizon: www22.verizon.com/Residential/LookupTools/

The Water Crunch

2008-02-11T00:38:00.000-05:00

With water levels in Falls Lake at an all-time low in January, drought intensity at exception levels and stage 2 water restrictions just around the corner (February 15, 2008), Raleigh residents are invited to attend a community forum on water challenges for Wake County scheduled for Feb. 23. The meeting will feature a panel of academic and government experts addressing the challenges communities will face in a rapidly growing region.

The forum will be from 9:30 a.m. until noon at the North Carolina State University McKimmon Center at 1101 Gorman Street. (parking info)

Topics will include:

Where our water comes from;
Water supply needs for an increasing population;
Climate change and drought;
What other communities are doing to conserve water; and,
Who pays for water now and funding options.

Our suggestion here at Greener Triangle? Let's start with the distribution of low flow shower heads. Either free or city subsidized, this has the potential to drastically improve the conservation of water in the Raleigh-Durham area. With an older, non-eco friendly shower head, your 5-10 minute shower could consume 25-50 gallons of water. The North Carolina Department of Emergency Services, who is developing an emergency water plan, claims that each person will need either one gallon or five gallons of bottled water per day to survive. A low flow attachment can reduce your shower from a lake dropping 5 gallons/minute to 2.5 gal/min or less.

It may not be as cathartic as your rainforest simulator right now, but it's better than ending up with a shower from a bucket of Dasani.

A Green Manifesto

2008-02-10T23:40:00.000-05:00

Let's face it. Even if you think global warming is a load of bunk, we can all agree that responsible use of our resources is a good idea. Being green doesn't mean you have to drive around in an oddly shaped car, nor do you have to revert to a pre-electric home, but it does require some thought to make wise choices about how we live in an energy hungry world.

Greener Triangle is a here to chronicle the evolution of an area that already has a city (Raleigh, NC) committed to becoming a "model green city". We'll track the successes and failures of our local and national government, disseminate news about ecology developments and inform individuals about what they can do to both save money and live in a greener world.