Month: July 2012

Recyclable basketball stadium for 2012 London Olympics

Since the Olympics draw a huge number of international visitors, building such arenas is something of a necessity.

However, to level the proverbial playing field for countries with a slightly lesser budget, designers Wilkinson Eyre and Sinclair Knight Mertz have created a basketball arena that is not only budget-friendly for the organizers but also a lot greener than most of the permanent structures.

The 2012 London Olympics Basketball Stadium project was created in collaboration with sports consultants KSS and as its name signifies, it would be used to organize the basketball competitions in this year’s Summer Olympics.

Built using 1,000 tonnes of steel, the design is neither very cheap nor 100 percent green but it certainly presents a great case for the incorporation of more sustainable designs for events of the same structure and crown attendance as the Olympics. Clad in white, the basketball stadium is made up of recyclable materials that can be reused.

For now, the 2012 London Olympics Basketball Stadium is a one of a kind project though members of the Olympics organizing committee as well as interested host nations agree that such sporting arenas could potentially bring the Games to nations with a little less spending power and provide a boost to their economies simultaneously making the Olympics greener.

New York City’s first self-powered residential building

New York City can add a big green feather to its cap as it can soon boast of a self-powered residential building.

On 18th, Voltaic Solaire will unveil the first private building in New York City which will be powered by solar and wind energy only. Dubbed Delta, it is inspired by Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC goal of reducing New York’s carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

With such green steps, we can certainly hope for a clean NYC in the future.

Constructed using eco-friendly and recycled materials, the Delta also houses one grand triplex apartment, a studio residence, as well as a retail or restaurant storefront.

Inhabitat reports about Delta’s green features in details – “The Delta’s solar roof is mounted atop the building like a trellis, giving residents a shaded roof deck below.

A solar skin, solar awning, and panels combined yield a capacity of 10.3 KW. Additionally, the Delta’s solar thermal system creates 140,000 BTUs.

To harness wind power, the roof is outfitted with a vertical axis wind turbine that generates 600W of power.

Each of these components work together and send power back to the grid, making enough energy for the building to power itself and then some.”

Vestas decided to close production plant in China

After internal analysis revealed a declining demand for kilowatt-class wind turbines, the Danish manufacturer Vestas has decided to cease production of its V52-850 kW and V60 850 kW turbines and consequently also to close its factory in Hohhot, China.

A total of 300 to 350 workers are affected by this closure.

Vestas plans to cease production in Hohhot “in the course of the summer” and expects annual savings of approx. € 10 million. After that, Vestas will still be represented in China by its production plants in Tianjin and Xuzhou as well as its two offices in Beijing and Shanghai. The total number of Vestas employees will then amount to around 2,600.

Although the Danes are withdrawing from Hohhot, confidence in the long-term outlook for the Chinese Market still exists, the company said. Outstanding supply agreements for the affected turbines will, of course, still be honoured. Maintenance and servicing of the installed turbines is to remain an area of business for Vestas.

Great Britain could become gigawatt market in 2012

If installations keep developing at the same rate, Great Britain could join the ranks of the GW markets in 2012.

According to statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), PV systems with a peak capacity of 1.15 GW currently produce electricity on British roofs and open land areas. This means that around half a GW (around 128,000 systems) has been added since the start of the year.

The PV specialist Ray Noble of the Solar Trade Association (STA) commented: “The previous ups and downs were obviously not sustainable, but the feedback we are getting from the industry shows that the number of new installations will continue to rise. We need to increase the current level to around 21 MW/week if we want to reach the annual target of 800 to 1000 MW set by the government.”

There are some risks ahead, such as the reduction of the feed-in tariff planned for August, which would, for example, reduce the rate for systems smaller than 4 kW from 21 pence/kWh to 16 pence/kWh. But despite this, STA head Paul Barwell is optimistic: “We are now quite certain that the British PV market is recovering.” He sees the latest rise in installations as a clear sign of the sustainable development of the sector.

After the large reductions in support made in the spring, the STA is focusing its efforts on ensuring that users and investors regain confidence in the feed-in tariff system. “We are working hard on spreading the message that solar power
remains a great investment.” In April of this year, the government halved the tariff to the current level of 21 pence/kWh for small systems under 4 kW.

CBD Energy awarded first US commercial solar project

CBD Energy, a diversified renewables energy company, has signed its first solar PV installation contract in the United States for a reported $3.8 million.

The project is a design, engineering, procurement and construct (EPC) contract to build a solar system for a school in New Jersey and will be delivered in partnership with Westinghouse Solar, Inc.

In a written statement, CBD said the agreement is the company’s first step toward establishing itself in the US solar market. The project involves installing multiple rooftop and carport solar PV systems, to supply power to the school, and excess power to be sold back into the grid.

“The successful completion of this first solar project will be an important demonstration of CBD’s competitive advantage in a market that has significant renewable energy development,” said James Greer, a Senior Vice President with CBD Energy.

“As CBD solidifies its U.S. market presence by merging with Westinghouse Solar, we are looking forward to increasing project volume and further validating our entrance in the US market,” he said.

Project commencement is anticipated in mid-July and is expected to take approximately three months to complete.

“We are very excited to see CBD secure a market win here in the U.S. and to partner with their EPC division to make the project successful,” said Westinghouse Solar CEO Margaret Randazzo.

“Expansion to capture EPC opportunities such as this project in the U.S., and the development of international distribution opportunities for Westinghouse Solar, such as the agreement we previously announced with CBD for sales of our solar panels to Harvey Norman in Australia, are examples of the new markets and synergies we were looking for from a CBD and Westinghouse Solar business combination,” she said.

CBD Managing Director Gerry McGowan said entering the US commercial market is an important milestone for CBD, and leverages its experience from the projects we are constructing in Europe, Asia and the South Pacific.

“We are able to achieve this expansion by bringing together our engineering expertise, project management capabilities and cost effective supply chain to work with a local workforce to deliver cost efficient renewable energy solutions,” McGowen said. “Over the course of a day, CBD now has continuous operations in delivering renewable energy projects around the globe.”

A new and more efficient airborne wind-power system developed by NASA

Benjamin Franklin uncovered ground-breaking facts about the nature of electricity and lightening by flying a kite in 1752.

Two and half centuries hence, NASA is using the lowly kite yet again albeit this time the purpose of the experiment is to change the way the world approaches wind turbines and sustainable energy generation.

Wind-borne power systems may not yet be viewed with the same level of trust as land-based tower-like wind turbines but they may just prove to be just the viable and ingenious alternative that can bring wind energy to the masses.

Engineers at NASA are currently hard at work trying to develop the model which explores two facets of the technology. The first is a generator based on the ground which the kite is tethered to and is powered by the reeling motion of the kite as it is activated by the wind. The other part of the project focuses on generating electricity via a set of turbines built into the kite itself.

During the reeling phase, the wind-borne wind power system uses 10 percent lesser energy which makes the model almost 90 percent effective. The model generates more  electricity when wind turbine blades are further from its hub and spin faster offer further advantage to the airborne system over the land-based systems. To allow the kites to maintain their orientation and speed, the system comes with a Microsoft Kinect-like pattern recognition software that also helps establish the situation of the kite. The kite is maintained in a figure-eight flying pattern by a flight-control system.

At the moment, NASA is working on a prototype in which the kite will have a wingspan of over 10 feet. The agency is also seeking permission to test the prototype  airborne wind-power system at an altitude of 2,000 feet above sea level which is supposed to be the right elevation for such systems. If perfected, the technology would not only provide clean power to people on the planet but perhaps also to human settlers and exploration probes on Mars and other planets in the solar system.