Constantine Alexander's blog

Power plants: UGA researchers explore how to harvest electricity directly from plants

The sun provides the most abundant source of energy on the planet. However, only a tiny fraction of the solar radiation on Earth is converted into useful energy.

To help solve this problem, researchers at the University of Georgia looked to nature for inspiration, and they are now developing a new technology that makes it possible to use plants to generate electricity.

"Clean energy is the need of the century," said Ramaraja Ramasamy, assistant professor in the UGA College of Engineering and the corresponding author of a paper describing the process in the Journal of Energy and Environmental Science. "This approach may one day transform our ability to generate cleaner power from sunlight using plant-based systems."

Plants are the undisputed champions of solar power. After billions of years of evolution, most of them operate at nearly 100 percent quantum efficiency, meaning that for every photon of sunlight a plant captures, it produces an equal number of electrons. Converting even a fraction of this into electricity would improve upon the efficiency seen with solar panels, which generally operate at efficiency levels between 12 and 17 percent.

During photosynthesis, plants use sunlight to split water atoms into hydrogen and oxygen, which produces electrons. These newly freed electrons go on to help create sugars that plants use much like food to support growth and reproduction.

"We have developed a way to interrupt photosynthesis so that we can capture the electrons before the plant uses them to make these sugars," said Ramasamy, who is also a member of UGA's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center.

Ramasamy's technology involves separating out structures in the plant cell called thylakoids, which are responsible for capturing and storing energy from sunlight. Researchers manipulate the proteins contained in the thylakoids, interrupting the pathway along which electrons flow.

These modified thylakoids are then immobilized on a specially designed backing of carbon nanotubes, cylindrical structures that are nearly 50,000 times finer than a human hair. The nanotubes act as an electrical conductor, capturing the electrons from the plant material and sending them along a wire.

In small-scale experiments, this approach resulted in electrical current levels that are two orders of magnitude larger than those previously reported in similar systems.

Ramasamy cautions that much more work must be done before this technology reaches commercialization, but he and his collaborators are already working to improve the stability and output of their device.

"In the near term, this technology might best be used for remote sensors or other portable electronic equipment that requires less power to run," he said. "If we are able to leverage technologies like genetic engineering to enhance stability of the plant photosynthetic machineries, I'm very hopeful that this technology will be competitive to traditional solar panels in the future."

"We have discovered something very promising here, and it is certainly worth exploring further," he said. "The electrical output we see now is modest, but only about 30 years ago, hydrogen fuel cells were in their infancy, and now they can power cars, buses and even buildings."

Citation: High photo-electrochemical activity of thylakoid–carbon nanotube composites for photosynthetic energy conversion. Jessica O. Calkins,Yogeswaran Umasankar,Hugh O'Neillb and   Ramaraja P. Ramasamy. Energy Environ. Sci., 2013, DOI: 10.1039/C3EE40634B

Contact: Ramaraja Ramasamy
rama@uga.edu
706-542-4101
University of Georgia

Environmental labels may discourage conservatives from buying energy-efficient products

When it comes to deciding which light bulb to buy, a label touting the product's environmental benefit may actually discourage politically conservative shoppers.

Dena Gromet and Howard Kunreuther at The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Rick Larrick at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business conducted two studies to determine how political ideology affected a person's choice to buy energy-efficient products in the United States.

The authors suggest that financial incentives or emphasizing energy independence may be better ways to get people to buy energy-efficient products than appealing to environmental concerns because these represent unifying concerns that cross political boundaries. Their paper, "Political Ideology Affects Energy-Efficient Attitudes and Choices," is published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1218453110)

"A popular strategy for marketing energy efficiency is to focus on its environmental benefits," said Gromet, the lead author on the studies. "But not everyone values protecting the environment. We were interested in whether promoting the environment could in fact deter some individuals from purchasing energy efficient options that they would have otherwise selected."

The first study surveyed 657 U.S. adults, 49 percent men, ranging in age from 19-81. Participants were given a short description of energy efficiency and answered questions about the psychological value they placed on reducing carbon dioxide emissions to protect the environment, reducing dependence on foreign oil and reducing the financial cost of energy use. They also indicated how much they favored investing in energy-efficient technology. Participants were asked about their political ideology, and how much they identified with different political parties.

The more conservative the participant, the less likely that person was to support investing in energy-efficient technology. The study found that this divide was primarily driven by the lower value that conservatives placed on reducing carbon emissions. The values of energy independence and reducing energy costs had more universal appeal.

The second study involved 210 participants, 61 percent female, who ranged in age from 18 to 66. Again, all participants gave information about their political ideologies. Participants were given $2 to spend on a light bulb and could keep whatever they did not spend. They were then educated about the benefits of compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs over incandescent bulbs. (CFL bulbs last 9,000 more hours and reduce energy costs by 75 percent). Some of the CFL bulbs came with a sticker that said "Protect The Environment" while the others had a blank sticker.

In some cases, the CFL bulb was priced at $1.50, while the incandescent bulb was 50 cents. When the more expensive CFL came with no environmental label, liberals and conservatives selected it at roughly the same high frequency. However, when the more expensive CFL bulb also was accompanied by a "protect the environment" sticker, participants who identified as more politically moderate or conservative were less likely to buy it.

For other participants, both incandescent and CFL bulbs were priced at 50 cents. All but one of these participants bought the CFL bulb regardless of the sticker, indicating that everyone was attracted to a good economic deal regardless of their political leanings.

"The environmental aspect of energy efficiency has an ideologically polarizing impact that can undermine demand for energy-efficient technology, specifically among more politically conservative individuals," Kunreuther said. "On a more positive note, the results of the second study indicate that focusing on the nature of the message coupled with economic incentives should promote investment in energy-efficient products."

"These findings demonstrate that a one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be successful for making energy-efficient products appealing to consumers," Larrick said. "People have different energy-related values which can influence their choices, including leading them to reject options that they recognize as having long-term economic benefits. In many cases, a tailored message may be needed to reach different market segments."

CITATION: "Political Ideology Affects Energy-Efficiency Attitudes And Choices," Dena M. Grometa, Howard Kunreuther, and Richard P. Larrick. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS 2013 ; published on April 29, 2013, doi:10.1073/pnas.1218453110

Contact: Erin Medlyn
erin.medlyn@duke.edu
919-660-8090
Duke University

Micro wind turbines and wildlife: integrating planning with ecology

The ecological impacts of micro wind turbines (up to 50 kW) are treated in a diverse way by different local authorities in the UK during the planning approval process, research suggests. The study calls for ecologists, policymakers, planners and industry representatives to improve the integration of ecological information within planning, and for greater guidance for local authorities on the ecological considerations of micro-turbines.

Planning applications for wind micro-generation have been increasing in recent years across Europe. In the UK, where this study was conducted, 20,000 micro-turbines are now installed. When assessing the impact of installing micro-turbines, a number of potentially conflicting economic, social and environmental criteria may be encountered. Sound decision-making therefore requires interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

The study reviewed the planning processes for micro-turbine applications in the UK, focusing on how ecological factors are taken into account during the application process. Ninety local authority planning officers were surveyed to establish the factors considered when granting or refusing permission for micro-turbines between April 2009 and 2010. The majority of applications were approved, but success rates varied significantly between authorities. When applications were rejected, the most common reasons given were: visual appearance, followed by noise, and then wildlife impacts.

The local authorities had very different approaches to considering the ecological impacts of micro-turbines, with some always requiring an ecological survey, and some never requiring one. Furthermore, the potential for this ecological survey to result in refusal of permission varied between authorities. The study therefore concludes that improved guidance for local authorities on ecological considerations is needed, and specifically, the recognition of micro-turbines as distinct from wind farms.

In addition, the study suggests that the available information on which to base ecological surveys is rather limited and recommend more research on the topic. Greater understanding is needed of the turbines’ potential impacts on bird and bat populations, safe distances from known populations and habitats, and potential differences in the effects of different options (e.g. turbine height and propeller design). It recommends further developing guidelines for authorities, which could be later updated following ecological research.

The researchers also considered recent updates to planning policy, questioning whether the ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ in England’s new National Planning Policy Framework could potentially override some local authorities’ requirements for ecological surveys. The introduction, in both Scotland and England, of new Permitted Development Rights (PDRs) was also considered. PDRs are intended to specify types of projects that will be permitted, although local authorities still need to be consulted to verify aspects, such as size and design.

The study concludes that the vast majority of wind micro-generation proposals will not be assisted by PDRs because most are for commercial turbines (which are not covered by PDRs) or domestic free standing turbines which usually exceed PDR restrictions on height or the swept area of the blades. These turbines will need to go through the usual planning process. An interdisciplinary approach to planning is recommended, whereby a working group of scientists, policymakers, statutory agencies and industry members are consulted to ensure that wind micro-renewables are developed in a way that accounts for all stakeholder considerations.

Citation: Park, K. J., Turner, A., Minderman, J. (2013). Integrating applied ecology and planning policy: the case of micro-turbines and wildlife conservation. Journal of Applied Ecology: 50, 199-204. DOI: 10.1111/jpe.12005.

Contact: k.j.park@stir.ac.uk

'Black carbon' flowing from soil to oceans

A smaller proportion of black carbon created during combustion will remain in soil than have been estimated before. Contrary to previous understanding, burying black carbon in the ground in order to restrain climate change will not create a permanent carbon reserve. Instead, a part of black carbon will dissolve from soil to rivers. The flux of dissolved black carbon from the rivers to the ocean was estimated in a research article published in Science on 19 April.

The burning of organic matter creates 40 million tons of black carbon every year. Black carbon is formed through the incomplete combustion of organic matter, e.g. in forest fires, slash-and-burn and controlled burning of fields. The general assumption has been that black carbon would remain in soil even for millions of years.

However, recently published research indicates that a remarkable proportion of black carbon in soil will dissolve to the water system. In the light of new research results, much discussed "bio-carbon" may not be that beneficial in terms of mitigating climate change. Carbon is given the prefix "bio" when it is used both for energy production and soil enrichment. In any case, the stability of carbon in soil has been a central factor of bio-carbon applications.

By sampling rivers all around the world, the researchers estimated that the annual amount of black carbon flowing via rivers to the ocean is 27 million tons per year.

"Each sample included a significant amount of black carbon," says a research participant Anssi Vähätalo, Senior Lecturer from the University of Jyväskylä.

"On average, the amount of black carbon was ten per cent of the amount of dissolved organic carbon. The results prove that the proportion of water soluble black carbon may be as much as 40 per cent of black carbon created annually.

Water samples from the largest rivers in the world

The basis of the research was the 'Big river'-project started by Senior Lecturer Anssi Vähätalo while he was working as an Academy Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki before moving to the University of Jyväskylä. For this project, water samples were collected from the ten largest rivers in the world.

"These rivers carry one third of fresh water running to oceans, and their catchment area covers 28% of the whole land area in the world. Water samples were taken, e.g. from Amazon, the largest river in the world," says Vähätalo.

In addition to the samples used in the river project, the research published in Science was supplemented with samples from many other rivers all over the world. The total number of researched samples was 174.

Article in Science: Global Charcoal Mobilization from Soils via Dissolution and Riverine Transport to the Oceans. Science 19 April 2013, Vol. 340 no. 6130 pp. 345-347, DOI: 10.1126/science.1231476. Rudolf Jaffé, Yan Ding, Jutta Niggemann, Anssi V. Vähätalo, Aron Stubbins, Robert G. M. Spencer, John Campbell, Thorsten, Dittmar

Author Affiliations:

• Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC), and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University (FIU), Miami, FL 33199, USA.
• Max Planck Research Group for Marine Geochemistry, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg, 29129 Oldenburg, Germany.
• Department of Environmental Science, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
• Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, 40500 Jyväskylä, Finland.
• Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, 10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA 31411, USA.
• Woods Hole Research Center, 149 Woods Hole Road, Falmouth, MA 02540, USA.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Durham, NH 03824, USA.

Contact: Anssi Vähätalo
anssi.vahatalo@jyu.fi
358-408-054-744
Academy of Finland

Regulation recommendations so that biofuel plants don't become weeds

A stand of Miscanthus.

In the United States, only species listed on state or federal noxious weed lists are regulated, and those lists are often biased toward species that affect agricultural crops. Conversely, invasive plant council lists include species that affect natural landscapes but have no regulatory clout. After comparing the lists and how they are created, researchers at the University of Illinois's Energy Biosciences Institute have developed some suggestions on how to improve the regulation of all invasive plant species, including new biofuels plants.

"We're hoping to reform the way that the lists are developed," said U of I invasive plant ecologist Lauren Quinn. "State Departments of Agriculture usually put those lists together. We'd like to see greater representation from other stakeholders, such as Departments of Natural Resources or Transportation, which deal with invasive species in rights-of-way. We'd also like a council of invasive species experts to advise the groups that are creating the lists so that the process is science based," she said.

Quinn said that a more transparent listing process would be based on a scientific process developed by the USDA known as the weed risk assessment. "The process is a way of looking at the potential invasiveness of a new species," she said. "That potential is largely based on whether they're invasive elsewhere. It was originally developed in Australia where they have a very rigorous quarantine system. The process has recently been modified and updated by the USDA, and we are recommending that regulatory lists be reformed using the new system," Quinn said.

Using the system, the invasive species council in each state would assess the plants that are currently on the list and any plants that are petitioned to be on the list and rank them according to their potential invasiveness. "High-risk species would be regulated on a new noxious list, but low-risk species would not be regulated," Quinn said. "Species for which insufficient data is available for the assessment would be placed on a 'caution' list that would demand further investigation prior to release."

Quinn and her team recommend that field trials be done on "caution" list species before they're released into the environment. The team also proposes a negligence-liability scheme in case the plant turns out to be invasive.

"Right now, even if you know that a plant is highly invasive, you can plant it or sell it and there are no consequences at all, unless it's on the noxious weed list," said U of I professor of agricultural law A. Bryan Endres. "Most of the regulation is directed exclusively at what might impact agriculture, but horticulturalists are developing new plants for home landscaping that might well be highly invasive. For economic reasons, the horticultural industry has a strong incentive to keep these new plants off of the noxious weed list when some varieties really they should be regulated," he said.

Quinn first noticed the discrepancies in the regulated noxious weed lists and the nonregulated invasive plant lists while working in California. "Some of the really important invasive plants that impact natural areas in California were not on the noxious list. That seemed strange to me. Why would you put together this list but not include the species that really mattered? For some really problematic plants like yellow star thistle, landowners are not required to do anything. It made no sense to me," Quinn said.

In comparing the lists from all 50 states, the researchers found that Montana has a noxious weeds law that is well enforced. "If a noxious weed is found on private property, it's the responsibility of the landowner to eradicate it," Quinn said.

As for the other states, Connecticut and Massachusetts came out on top. "They're listening to their invasive species council," Quinn said. "Other states have an invasive species council in place, but they're not very active or they're not being consulted."

Illinois and the other states in the Midwest are not doing a good job in terms of identifying invasive plants and consolidating them on one list, she said.

Quinn said that they hope to bring awareness to the discrepancies between the two lists, and ideally to reform those lists so that plant species that are invasive in natural areas are included. "There isn't a lot of protection for natural areas against invasive species despite the fact that there is an executive order requiring federal agencies to prevent and control invasive species. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of enforcement," Quinn said.

Quinn's job at the University of Illinois's Energy Biosciences Institute has been to investigate the potential for invasiveness in new non-native crops that are being developed for biofuels. "I've been looking at how they are likely to disperse in the environment and whether they are able to establish in areas outside of cultivation," she said.

Will the team's recommendations threaten the development of new biofuels crops? Endres said no, that the recommendations offer protection for the industry rather than punishment.

"The biggest threat to the biofuels industry is unsubstantiated accusations whether they relate to greenhouse gas savings or individuals claiming that new biomass varieties will all be invasive species," Endres said. "And to the extent that the industry has a solid regulation that governs it, it creates certainty within the industry, which then allows them to invest the billions of dollars it's going to take to do this.

"But when you have regulatory uncertainty, with 50 states each doing their own thing, those are barriers to the expansion of the industry," Endres said. "The big developers, who are responsible players in the industry, would be in favor of this regulation as long as it's science based and legitimate. They don't want individuals to be able to go to their local weed commissioner and complain 'my neighbor is going to plant Miscanthus and I heard on the Internet somewhere that it's invasive,' and it gets added to the state's noxious weed list. That's not a good way to do business and to develop a new industrial model."

Endres said that developers also do not want to spend a lot of money to commercialize a biofuels plant that's going to cause trouble later on—they want to do that analysis beforehand and decide which plants to invest more money into.

Quinn said, "We want to encourage developers to commercialize only those species that will carry a low risk of invasion. During their research and development phase, they would petition the invasive species council to do the weed risk assessment on the plant that they're proposing. If it's not high risk, then they can do field trials to rule out invasiveness. This due diligence not only protects the environment but also protects developers from potential losses due to findings of negligence down the road. Our plan gives them an opportunity to develop something safe early in the process," she said.

Quinn said that biofuels crops such as Miscanthus would be subject to the list. The current cultivars that are being sold for production are sterile, but new hybrids that are being developed are fertile, so Quinn said there could be the potential for confusion.

"We want to shift developers' incentives to make sure that they're doing an assessment of the invasiveness before they go too far down the development stage and we have another kudzu on our hands," Endres said.

Quinn, who is a postdoctoral research associate at the Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of Illinois, conducted the research along with James McCubbins and A. Bryan Endres, both U of I attorneys who specialize in agricultural law, and Jacob Barney, a weed scientist at Virginia Tech.

"Navigating the 'Noxious' and 'Invasive' Regulatory Landscape: Suggestions for Improved Regulation" was published in the February issue of Biosciences. The research was funded by the Energy Biosciences Institute. The Energy Biosciences Institute, funded by the energy company BP, is a research collaboration that includes the University of Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is dedicated to applying the biological sciences to the challenges of producing sustainable, renewable energy for the world.

Contact: Debra Levey Larson
dlarson@illinois.edu
217-244-2880
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Sustainable business innovation adds firms' market value

This graph shows that sustainable business practices and business success go hand in hand. Credit: Seppo Junnila

Sustainable business innovation is good business; researchers from Aalto University, Finland have proved. The researchers tested how sustainability business innovations and the market value of companies in the construction sector are connected. The study is a first of its kind. An event study model was used to analyse large construction sector companies in several European countries as well as Australia.

The most important finding of the study is that a positive and statistically significant association exists between sustainability innovation announcements and the market value of companies.

When sustainability innovation announcements are reported regularly it explains an increase of 0.82% in the market capitalisation of the studied companies. Sustainability innovation announcements can be for example about renewable power solutions, sustainable workplace concept and carbon audit software.

Investments on sustainable practices by companies lead to the creation of economic value. The results imply that sustainability innovations can be relevant to the top management of companies operating in the business development. On top of that, information on sustainability innovations can also be useful to stock market investors when they evaluate the future growth potential of companies, says Professor Seppo Junnila from Aalto University, Finland.

Aalto University, Finland is a new multidisciplinary science and art community in the fields of science, economics, and art and design. The University is founded on Finnish strengths, and its goal is to develop as a unique entity to become one of the world's top universities. Aalto University's cornerstones are its strengths in education and research. At the new University, there are 20,000 basic degree and graduate students as well as a staff of 5,000 of which 350 are professors.

Contact: Seppo Junnila
seppo.junnila@aalto.fi
358-505-115-816
Aalto University

Gannets could be affected by offshore energy developments

Photo by Stewart Ho

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered that proposed offshore renewable energy developments in the English Channel have the potential to affect the foraging behaviour of northern gannets from Alderney in the Channel Islands.

The study by the University of Liverpool, the British Trust for Ornithology and Alderney Wildlife Trust, funded by the Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy, used GPS technology to track 15 northern gannets breeding on Les Etacs in North West Alderney to find out about their feeding habits and whether the routes they travelled could be affected by proposed English and French offshore energy developments.

The study found that on the whole gannets flew in the same direction and for the same distance but they vary significantly in the amount of time they spend searching for food which suggests that individual gannets do not depend on specific feeding sites.

Louise Soanes, from the School of Environmental Sciences, said: "We found that the area where the gannets travelled for food overlapped with nine sites earmarked for offshore marine energy developments which suggests that the feeding habits of these birds could be affected, as well as the potential for collision with wind turbine developments. These sites also fell across three different territorial waters - in the UK, France and the Channel Islands - which has implications for international collaboration and cooperation.

"GPS technology is becoming cheaper, longer lasting, more accurate and easier to use on a wide range of species. Our work highlighted the important role tracking technologies can play in determining how sea bird colonies would be affected by offshore developments and we recommend that they become an integral part of the Environmental Impact Assessment for marine renewable developments."

EU directives require that Europe must achieve 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 which has led to an increase in the number of developments using offshore wind, tidal and wave technologies. Offshore developments require an Environmental Impact Assessment which use boat-based and aerial monitoring but do not routinely use tracking technologies. 

 The preliminary findings from this study are being taken forward by the University and its partners. The next phase of research, funded by a NERC PhD studentship, will determine what exactly the gannets use these areas for and how dependent the gannets are on these areas over the next three years to better understand how the developments may impact their populations.

• The University of Liverpool is one of the UK's leading research institutions with an annual turnover of £410 million, including £150 million for research. Liverpool is ranked in the top 1% of higher education institutions worldwide and is a member of the Russell Group.
• The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is the UK's leading bird research organisation. Over thirty thousand birdwatchers contribute to the BTO's surveys. They collect information that forms the basis of conservation action in the UK. The BTO maintains a staff of 100 at its offices in Norfolk, Stirling and Bangor, who analyse and publicise the results of project work. The BTO's investigations are funded by government, industry and conservation organisations.
• The Alderney Wildlife Trust helps to manage and protect Alderney's diverse habitats from the threat of new development and large scale agricultural abandonment.

Contact: Sarah Stamper
sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk
1-517-943-044
University of Liverpool

 

 

International business, government and civil society leaders join forces in global forum for valuing natural capital

International leaders from business, government and NGOs gathered in Singapore today to mark the launch of the new headquarters of TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) for Business Coalition which aims to achieve a shift in corporate behaviour to preserve and enhance, rather than deplete the earth’s natural capital.

The Coalition brings together global stakeholders and partners, including IUCN, to study and standardise methods for natural capital accounting to enable its valuation and reporting in business.
 
This is the business application of the G8+5 and UNEP-supported TEEB programme, led by Pavan Sukhdev. It provides a compelling economic case for the conservation of natural capital and is the cornerstone of current Green Economy policy.

“Valuing nature is at the heart of sustainable development and is everybody’s business. If we are to achieve the goal of halting biodiversity loss by 2020, we must engage all sectors of society, not least the private sector. That’s why IUCN, involved in TEEB since its beginning, helps businesses integrate biodiversity and livelihood values in their decision-making. I hope that the TEEB for Business Coalition will go a long way in promoting biodiversity-friendly businesses worldwide,” says IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre.

The Coalition is a Not for Profit organisation and has secured cornerstone funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, as well as from the United Kingdom and Singaporean Governments. Headquartered in Singapore, it will provide a growing knowledge hub in the Asia-Pacific region and internationally on natural capital valuation in business.

The Coalition’s activities focus on global stakeholder engagement, focused research and development of methods for natural capital accounting. Its founding members have pioneered much of the science and business case for natural capital valuation and accounting, providing a credible platform to take the business application of this forward. These existing activities will be built on to ensure the necessary stakeholders from business, government, support organisations, academia and NGOs inform effective and pragmatic methods.

Also announced at the launch was the appointment of Dr. Dorothy Maxwell as the Director for TEEB for Business Coalition.  Dr. Maxwell joins the Coalition with over 20 years’ professional experience working in the environmental/sustainability arena in business, government and academia in the EU, USA and Asia-Pacific.

The ceremony took place as part of the Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development, which presented practical ways to accelerate solutions for a more sustainable world while increasing business and industry growth. The Forum serves as a platform for leading global companies to discuss deeper integration of sustainability and social responsibility to deliver longer-term business success. Forum participants took this opportunity to participate in various discussions related to the Coalition and agreed next steps.

The TEEB for Business Coalition is recruiting an Office Manager and Communications Manager for their new Singapore office. For further information and to apply, please download the documents below:

• Download TEEB Office Manager
• Download TEEB Comms Manager

 

 

Large-scale production of biofuels made from algae poses sustainability concerns

Further innovations needed to reach full potential

A Diamond DA42 NG aircraft, equipped with Diamond's own proprietary powerplants - Austro Engines AE 300 engines - flew at the Berlin Air Show, with pure biofuel produced from algae.

Scaling up the production of biofuels made from algae to meet at least 5 percent -- approximately 39 billion liters -- of U.S. transportation fuel needs would place unsustainable demands on energy, water, and nutrients, says a new report from the National Research Council. However, these concerns are not a definitive barrier for future production, and innovations that would require research and development could help realize algal biofuels' full potential.

Biofuels derived from algae and cyanobacteria are possible alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and could help the U.S. meet its energy security needs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Algal biofuels offer potential advantages over biofuels made from land plants, including algae's ability to grow on non-croplands in cultivation ponds of freshwater, salt water, or wastewater. The number of companies developing algal biofuels has been increasing, and several oil companies are investing in them. Given these and other interests, the National Research Council was asked to identify sustainability issues associated with large-scale development of algal biofuels.

The committee that wrote the report said that concerns related to large-scale algal biofuel development differ depending on the pathways used to produce the fuels. Producing fuels from algae could be done in many ways, including cultivating freshwater or saltwater algae, growing algae in closed photobioreactors or open-pond systems, processing the oils produced by microalgae, or refining all parts of macroalgae. The committee's sustainability analysis focused on pathways that to date have received active attention. Most of the current development involves growing selected strains of algae in open ponds or closed photobioreactors using various water sources, collecting and extracting the oil from algae or collecting fuel precursors secreted by algae, and then processing the oil into fuel.

The committee pointed out several high-level concerns for large-scale development of algal biofuel, including the relatively large quantity of water required for algae cultivation; magnitude of nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and CO2, needed for cultivation; amount of land area necessary to contain the ponds that grow the algae; and uncertainties in greenhouse gas emissions over the production life cycle. Moreover, the algal biofuel energy return on investment would have to be high, meaning more energy would have to be produced from the biofuels than what is required to cultivate algae and convert them to fuels.

The committee found that to produce the amount of algal biofuel equivalent to 1 liter of gasoline, between 3.15 liters to 3,650 liters of freshwater is required, depending on the production pathway. Replenishing water lost from evaporation in growing systems is a key driver for use of freshwater in production, the committee said. In addition, water use could be a serious concern in an algal biofuel production system that uses freshwater without recycling the "harvest" water.

To produce 39 billion liters of algal biofuels, 6 million to 15 million metric tons of nitrogen and 1 million to 2 million metric tons of phosphorus would be needed each year if the nutrients are not recycled, the report says. These requirements represent 44 percent to 107 percent of the total nitrogen use and 20 percent to 51 percent of the total phosphorus use in the U.S. However, recycling nutrients or utilizing wastewater from agricultural or municipal sources could reduce nutrient and energy use, the committee said.

Another resource that could limit the amount of algal biofuels produced is land area and the number of suitable and available sites for algae to grow. Appropriate topography, climate, proximity to water supplies -- whether freshwater, inland saline water, marine water, or wastewater -- and proximity to nutrient supplies would have to be matched carefully to ensure successful and sustainable fuel production and avoid costs and energy consumption for transporting those resources to cultivation facilities. If the suitable sites for growing algae are near urban or suburban centers or coastal recreation areas, the price of those lands could be prohibitive. A national assessment of land requirements for algae cultivation that takes into account various concerns is needed to inform the potential amount of algal biofuels that could be produced economically in the U.S.

One of the primary motivations for using alternative fuels for transportation is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, estimates of greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle of algal biofuel production span a wide range; some studies suggest that algal biofuel production generates less greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum-based fuels while other studies suggest the opposite. These emissions depend on many factors in the production process, including the amount of energy needed to dewater and harvest algae and the electricity sources used.

The committee emphasized that the crucial aspects to sustainable development are positioning algal growth ponds close to water and nutrient resources and recycling essential resources. With proper management and good engineering designs, other environmental effects could be avoided, the committee said. Examples include releasing harvest water in other bodies of water and creating algal blooms and allowing harvest water to seep into ground water.

For algal biofuels to contribute a significant amount of fuels for transportation in the future, the committee said, research and development would be needed to improve algal strains, test additional strains for desired characteristics, advance the materials and methods for growing and processing algae into fuels, and reduce the energy requirements for multiple stages of production. To aid the U.S. Department of Energy in its decision-making process regarding sustainable algal biofuel development, the committee proposed a framework that includes an assessment of sustainability throughout the supply chain, a cumulative impact analysis of resource use or environmental effects, and cost-benefit analyses.

The report was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private and independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under an 1863 congressional charter. Panel members, who serve pro bono as volunteers, are chosen by the Academies for each study based on their expertise and experience and must satisfy the Academies' conflict-of-interest standards. The resulting consensus reports undergo external peer review before completion.

Contact: Jennifer Walsh
news@nas.edu
202-334-2138
National Academy of Sciences

 

 

Solar power is contagious

People are more likely to install a solar panel on their home if their neighbors have one, according to a Yale and New York University study in the journal Marketing Science.

The researchers studied clusters of solar installations throughout California from January 2001 to December 2011 and found that residents of a particular zip code are more likely to install solar panels if they already exist in that zip code and on their street.

"We looked at the influence that the number of cumulative adoptions—the number of people who already installed solar panels in a zip code—had on the probability there would be a new adoption in that zip code," said Kenneth Gillingham, the study's co-author and assistant professor of economics at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. "Our approach controls for a variety of other possible explanations, including clustering of environmental preferences or marketing activity."

They calculated that 10 extra installations in a zip code increase the probability of an adoption by 7.8 percent. If there is a 10 percent increase in the total number of people with solar panels in a zip code—the "installed base"—there will be a 54 percent increase in the adoption of solar panels.

"These results provide clear evidence of a statistically and economically significant effect," said Bryan Bollinger, the other co-author and assistant professor of marketing at New York University Stern School of Business.

The study also shows that the visibility of the panels and word-of-mouth led to larger installations. "If my neighbor installs a solar panel and tells me he's saving money and he's really excited about it, it's likely I'll go ahead and do the same thing," said Gillingham. "Then there are others who'll install because they don't want to be one-upped by their neighbors."

The researchers found that white males between the ages of 45 and 65 who have a 30-minute commute and home repairs were associated with higher adoption rates. Gillingham suggested that a disproportionate number of engineers working in Silicon Valley may explain the result. In addition, larger households and people with longer commutes were more exposed to solar installations, thus more likely to adopt the technology, compared to people who carpooled and lived in smaller households.

"These findings have clear implications for marketers who are striving to reduce the high cost of consumer acquisition in the solar photovoltaic market," said Bollinger.

In January 2006 the California Public Utilities Commission established the California Solar Initiative, a $3.3 billion, 10-year rebate program encouraging the installation of 3,000 megawatts of solar infrastructure over the ensuing decade. These subsidies, according to the authors, have increased the number of solar installations to 17,000 in 2010 from fewer than 1,000 in 2001. The authors used the 85,046 requested residential installations during that time in their calculations.

"Our finding of an increasing effect of new installations in a zip code suggests that targeting marketing efforts in areas that already have some installations is a promising strategy," said Gillingham.

Reference: "Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels,"Bryan Bollinger and Kenneth Gillingham.

Contact: David DeFusco
david.defusco@yale.edu
203-436-4842
Yale University