Monday, July 23, 2001
Preventing the brownout in New York
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The lit-up New York skyline has always been a charming and reassuring sight. Today, though, in view of the energy crises that have affected California and may also affect us in the Northeast, it becomes a witness to the huge wastage of energy resources and the atmospheric pollution that we, citizens of the richest country in the world, have indulged in since the energy crises of the 1970s. Even President Bush has proudly spoken of the American privilege of being wasteful.
We are about to get our comeuppance, although the gasoline prices have temporarily gone down and California feels triumphant, for now. We will get hurt short-term, for not building more energy plants and electric lines, to cope with increasing population and technology needs, and in the long-term, when the earth’s oil resources run out in 38 years (my conclusion based on US government statistics), and we will have not developed alternative sources and will have to rush into building atomic energy plants.
First, though, about those lit-up buildings, store windows, 24/7 climate control HVACs in business environments, and such. Huge waste, controllable by simple flick of the switch. An architect friend tells me that many commercial buildings turn off the lights at 11 PM, and put them back on at 6 AM or thereabouts, with the same schedule on weekends. To save money, many buildings are directly tied to breakers (panels) with 277 volt 3-phase lines, and cannot be interrupted with ease. Another concern causing waste is security, ease of access for the periodic night visits by guards A more justified security concern is lighting the streets, very necessary, controlled by timers or "electric eyes.". Government agencies do energy audits and provide some tax benefits for energy savings. There is no code, though, that punishes abuse of electric current.
Federal government encourages employment of alternate sources of clean energy. What are they? Well, first of all, photovoltaic (PV) panels, that convert solar energy into electricity, heat or air conditioning. Fuel cells or batteries save some of this perishable stuff. Fox and Fowle, a "green architecture" proponent firm, built the Conde Nast 48-story tower at 4 Times Square with PV panels in the walls, two fuel cells (batteries), gas-fired absorption panels, and, to top it, a network of recycling chutes throughout the building. Imagine, if all the future tall buildings could have PV panels in their walls? A small F&F structure, the 9,000 sq ft Black Rock Forest consortium office, by use of the above, plus a heat pump system (Pres. Bush and VP Cheney both use them) projects 45 percent less energy costs than a traditional building. These features exemplify a new standard..
This standard is being legislated. In Massachusetts. The use of glass walls may be history, if they seriously enforce certain existing building codes. Glass surfaces, even with double panes, are wasteful of energy, since they provide very limited insulation. Pre-cast PV panels may become the wall standard for curtain-wall buildings .They are lightweight, energy-generating and good insulant. Note well that energy considerations may create a complete revolution in architecture.
The US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency is promoting a Million Solar Roofs, with the expectation that such roofs by the year 2010 will reduce emissions equivalent to those of 850,000 cars, not to speak of energy savings. Installing PV cells, solar hot water and related systems will also generate 70,000 new jobs. Tax incentives exist already, 10 percent for home installations, 35 percent for businesses.
With all these efforts on hand in curbing energy waste in the business world, let us not forget the things that we the individuals can do. If President Johnson could walk through the White House turning off lights, we could easily do the same in our smaller home environments. We can also install certain less electricity consuming light fixtures, such as fluorescent light bulbs. We can turn off our computers when not in use. We can lower thermostats and wear sweaters in cool periods - the Brits have been doing it for centuries. As to all those little blinkers in ranges, coffee makers and every which electric household device that eases our life, the energy waste that these trillion points of light represent boggles the mind.
Where does that leave us? According to a NYS Public Service Commission spokesman, this state has 35,000 megawatts online, with 18 percent excess capacity. But, energy use in NYC grows at 5 percent a year. Conservatively, NYS needs to add 2,000 MW capacity annually . Most NYS utilities have sold their generating plants to independents, to lower costs through competition, with some success. But, most of our plants are nearing the age of 30, requiring construction of new facilities. Further, NYS has not built new transmission lines for 11 yea rs, the old ones are overloaded and shifting energy around is a very roundabout and difficult task. The claim is that siting new plants and lines runs not only into the familiar NIMBY but also NOPE (not on planet Earth) opposition.
With the best intentions to save energy, consumers do not always succeed. The Columbia County Independent reports of a farmer who installed $15,000 worth of solar panels and a DC to AC converter, only to fail in getting interconnected with the NYSEG "net-metering" gear, required by the 1997 deregulation law. This method connects the home and the utility energy sources, and the meter runs backwards when the sun panels generate electricity.. Utilities are known to erect these barriers, according to Solar Works, a partner with NYS in helping consumers install clean energy systems. You can imagine their reasons .Further, across the border there’s Hydro Quebec, with 49 clean energy generators good for 37,000 MW that we political fools do not want to buy from. Yech!.
But there is progress. Distributed power generating business, such as Plug Power of Latham, NY now can build inexpensive power generators hooked to the public power grid, using proton exchange membrane cells for storage. It is presumably a clean process, splitting hydrogen atoms into protons and neutrons. The former, reacting with oxygen in the air, create a source of DC electricity, stored for buildings, light duty vehicles and cameras. This process was used by NASA for the Gemini and Apollo projects. The cost of the platinum catalyst, $9,000 for a 7 kilowatt source in 1980, is down to $50 . The byproduct heat can now be recaptured, .increasing the effectiveness of the process. For what it is worth, Pete Seeger uses this or a similar process for powering his home and vehicles.
Wally Dobelis thanks the Independent for the use of its material.
The lit-up New York skyline has always been a charming and reassuring sight. Today, though, in view of the energy crises that have affected California and may also affect us in the Northeast, it becomes a witness to the huge wastage of energy resources and the atmospheric pollution that we, citizens of the richest country in the world, have indulged in since the energy crises of the 1970s. Even President Bush has proudly spoken of the American privilege of being wasteful.
We are about to get our comeuppance, although the gasoline prices have temporarily gone down and California feels triumphant, for now. We will get hurt short-term, for not building more energy plants and electric lines, to cope with increasing population and technology needs, and in the long-term, when the earth’s oil resources run out in 38 years (my conclusion based on US government statistics), and we will have not developed alternative sources and will have to rush into building atomic energy plants.
First, though, about those lit-up buildings, store windows, 24/7 climate control HVACs in business environments, and such. Huge waste, controllable by simple flick of the switch. An architect friend tells me that many commercial buildings turn off the lights at 11 PM, and put them back on at 6 AM or thereabouts, with the same schedule on weekends. To save money, many buildings are directly tied to breakers (panels) with 277 volt 3-phase lines, and cannot be interrupted with ease. Another concern causing waste is security, ease of access for the periodic night visits by guards A more justified security concern is lighting the streets, very necessary, controlled by timers or "electric eyes.". Government agencies do energy audits and provide some tax benefits for energy savings. There is no code, though, that punishes abuse of electric current.
Federal government encourages employment of alternate sources of clean energy. What are they? Well, first of all, photovoltaic (PV) panels, that convert solar energy into electricity, heat or air conditioning. Fuel cells or batteries save some of this perishable stuff. Fox and Fowle, a "green architecture" proponent firm, built the Conde Nast 48-story tower at 4 Times Square with PV panels in the walls, two fuel cells (batteries), gas-fired absorption panels, and, to top it, a network of recycling chutes throughout the building. Imagine, if all the future tall buildings could have PV panels in their walls? A small F&F structure, the 9,000 sq ft Black Rock Forest consortium office, by use of the above, plus a heat pump system (Pres. Bush and VP Cheney both use them) projects 45 percent less energy costs than a traditional building. These features exemplify a new standard..
This standard is being legislated. In Massachusetts. The use of glass walls may be history, if they seriously enforce certain existing building codes. Glass surfaces, even with double panes, are wasteful of energy, since they provide very limited insulation. Pre-cast PV panels may become the wall standard for curtain-wall buildings .They are lightweight, energy-generating and good insulant. Note well that energy considerations may create a complete revolution in architecture.
The US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency is promoting a Million Solar Roofs, with the expectation that such roofs by the year 2010 will reduce emissions equivalent to those of 850,000 cars, not to speak of energy savings. Installing PV cells, solar hot water and related systems will also generate 70,000 new jobs. Tax incentives exist already, 10 percent for home installations, 35 percent for businesses.
With all these efforts on hand in curbing energy waste in the business world, let us not forget the things that we the individuals can do. If President Johnson could walk through the White House turning off lights, we could easily do the same in our smaller home environments. We can also install certain less electricity consuming light fixtures, such as fluorescent light bulbs. We can turn off our computers when not in use. We can lower thermostats and wear sweaters in cool periods - the Brits have been doing it for centuries. As to all those little blinkers in ranges, coffee makers and every which electric household device that eases our life, the energy waste that these trillion points of light represent boggles the mind.
Where does that leave us? According to a NYS Public Service Commission spokesman, this state has 35,000 megawatts online, with 18 percent excess capacity. But, energy use in NYC grows at 5 percent a year. Conservatively, NYS needs to add 2,000 MW capacity annually . Most NYS utilities have sold their generating plants to independents, to lower costs through competition, with some success. But, most of our plants are nearing the age of 30, requiring construction of new facilities. Further, NYS has not built new transmission lines for 11 yea rs, the old ones are overloaded and shifting energy around is a very roundabout and difficult task. The claim is that siting new plants and lines runs not only into the familiar NIMBY but also NOPE (not on planet Earth) opposition.
With the best intentions to save energy, consumers do not always succeed. The Columbia County Independent reports of a farmer who installed $15,000 worth of solar panels and a DC to AC converter, only to fail in getting interconnected with the NYSEG "net-metering" gear, required by the 1997 deregulation law. This method connects the home and the utility energy sources, and the meter runs backwards when the sun panels generate electricity.. Utilities are known to erect these barriers, according to Solar Works, a partner with NYS in helping consumers install clean energy systems. You can imagine their reasons .Further, across the border there’s Hydro Quebec, with 49 clean energy generators good for 37,000 MW that we political fools do not want to buy from. Yech!.
But there is progress. Distributed power generating business, such as Plug Power of Latham, NY now can build inexpensive power generators hooked to the public power grid, using proton exchange membrane cells for storage. It is presumably a clean process, splitting hydrogen atoms into protons and neutrons. The former, reacting with oxygen in the air, create a source of DC electricity, stored for buildings, light duty vehicles and cameras. This process was used by NASA for the Gemini and Apollo projects. The cost of the platinum catalyst, $9,000 for a 7 kilowatt source in 1980, is down to $50 . The byproduct heat can now be recaptured, .increasing the effectiveness of the process. For what it is worth, Pete Seeger uses this or a similar process for powering his home and vehicles.
Wally Dobelis thanks the Independent for the use of its material.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 3:26 AM 
