Bank of America Tower Certified LEED Platinum

Bank of America's One Bryant Park in Manhattan NYC has achieved LEED Platinum certification.  This is a first for a US high rise commercial building - achieving LEED platinum.

" ...  glass curtain wall permits maximum sunlight ... under-floor air delivery system ... power comes from an on-site cogeneration plant, which works in concert with an ice storage system ..."

The building reuses most all rainwater and sink water saving millions of gallons of potable water yearly. 

Via:  Bank of America  LINK

Home Fuel Cells Coming to Japan

" ... Matsushita ... will claim first place in the race to put commercial home fuel cells on the market ... "

" ... can optimally provide 70 percent of the energy needs for a 1,280 square foot house with four people ... can reduce energy consumption by 22 percent and CO2 emissions by 12 percent as compared to all other power sources ... ".

" ... in this case, the cogeneration home fuel cell hooks up to the city’s natural gas lines, extracting hydrogen from the gas in a fuel-processing device ... hydrogen is combined with oxygen through a series of polyelectrolyte membranes, a process that creates electricity, heat, and water ... home fuel cell produces between 500 watts and a 1 kilowatt of electricity and captures the heat to warm a tank of water, used for showers, dishes etc."

" ... a contribution to Japan’s goals of reducing global CO2 emissions 50 percent by 2050."

" ... fuel cells require a great deal of energy; for example, this unit contains more than 2,000 components. Whether the production of the units negates the energy and CO2 savings gained by customers is unclear."

Check out this video ...

Via: Mother Nature Network LINK

Vegawatt™ - Power from Waste Oil

"Vegawatt™ ...  cogeneration system for restaurants and food service facilities, uses your waste cooking oil as a readily available source of fuel to generate on-site electricity and hot water, saving your restaurant thousands of dollars as well as providing a clean, renewable source of energy."


" ... paying a hauler to dispose of your used cooking oil? Or getting paid for your waste vegetable oil? You'll actually get a better return on investment when you use it to power your restaurant!"

How doesVegawatt™ compare to other energy sources?  Compare a KW of energy based on CO2 produced.  " ... Coal-fired electricity generator will burn roughly 1/2 a kilogram of coal to produce 1 kw of electricity, and release 1016 grams of CO2 in the process. ....Vegawatt™, running waste vegetable oil as fuel in a co-generator, will produce 1 kw of electricity and release 642 grams of CO2 in the process."  This is less than diesel at 998 grams and natural gas at 670 grams of CO2 respectively.



Via: Vegawatt LINK

Sugar as Renewable Energy

Claren Power, a Arlington, Virginia company, " ... partners with sugar mills in Brazil to build modern, cogenerational ... facilities. The fuel comes from sugar cane waste—called bagasse... "

" ... using the waste product of the sugar after the stalks are crushed, ground and shredded and the juice is squeezed out. ... use ... as the fuel for our boiler, which heats water ... to generate steam. This pressurized steam drives a turbine, which is connected to a generator that converts this energy into electricity. ..."

"Most plants consume about a third of the energy (steam and electricity) that we generate during the harvest, leaving the other two-thirds to export to the electrical grid. Our goal is to help make plants more efficient so that we have more excess energy. We’re using the same resources but providing three times more energy."

Via: SmartPlanet  LINK






















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" ... using the waste product of the sugar after the stalks are crushed, ground and shredded and the juice is squeezed out. ... use this as the fuel for our boiler, which heats water ... to generate steam. This pressurized steam drives a turbine, which is connected to a generator that converts this energy into electricity. ..." "Most plants consume about a third of the energy (steam and electricity) that we generate during the harvest, leaving the other two-thirds to export to the electrical grid. Our goal is to help make plants more efficient so that we have more excess energy. We’re using the same resources but providing three times more energy."

Via: SmartPlanet  LINK Via: SmartPlanet LINK