The greenhouse sector currently has extremely high energy overheads, so finding ways of reducing energy consumption is of great economic and climatic interest. In the longer term the aim is for greenhouses to actually produce energy themselves.
“By altering the climate control system at Hjortebjerg Nursery to a dynamic climate in which optimum use is made of natural light, we can reduce the whole nursery’s energy consumption by around 20 percent. In specific terms, the concept is to accept slightly higher temperature and humidity variations, so the idea is relatively easy to implement once you have developed the model,” explains Project Manager Anker Kuehn of AgroTech, which is involved in developing the new greenhouse concept.
The next step in the project has already been taken, with energy depots established underground in which surplus energy from the summer can be stored and reused during the cold months.
A greenhouse functions like an efficient solar collector, and on an annual basis receives twice as much solar energy as is used for a whole year’s heating. On an annual basis the energy consumption for heating the glasshouse area is an average of approx. 400 kWh per m², while annual insulation is approx. 1020 kWh pr m².
“For eight months of the year the energy input is higher than energy consumption. By collecting and storing the summer’s surplus heat and using it in the heating season, the greenhouse can become self-sufficient on energy – and even supply the nursery’s six other greenhouses. For a large part of the year heating requirements are limited to night-time,” explains Anker Kuehn.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Denmark shares its wind power secrets
The Danish Crown Prince Frederik recently pushed the button that made the wind turbines spin at Horns Rev 2 – the worlds largest offshore wind farm. The 91 wind turbines are the recent symbol that wind is one of Denmark’s most abundant natural energy sources, today accounting for one-fifth of the electricity supplied through Danish outlets.
And there is more to come. A wind power share of around 50 per cent in around 10 to 15 years is not a distant dream in Denmark. That is part of the Danish vision to combat climate change.
In just under 30 years, Denmark has become world champ when it comes to harnessing the otherwise tough-to-control wind energy in the power system. And the experiences is shared in a new film called wind power – how to combat climate change produced by the Danish Wind Industry Association, Energinet.dk, the Danish Transmission System Operator and Climate Consortium Denmark.
The key to success is a well-equipped toolbox. A number of tools provide the recipe for integrating considerable amounts of wind energy into the power system, thus ensuring that wind energy is always used where most needed. The list of tools available today is long and will be growing longer.
“What particularly makes the Danish history of energy successful and interesting in an international context is that we have developed an electrical system that can integrate renewable energy in a large scale in corporation with district heating systems and decentralized cogeneration. Renewable energy will in increasing amounts be included in our future energy supply. This requires innovation and change in relations to both the electric-, heat- and transportation system today. This is what we with the short film about wind power want to shed light on,” says Hans Mogensen vice president of communications at Energinet.dk, that is the Danish Transmission System operator.
And there is more to come. A wind power share of around 50 per cent in around 10 to 15 years is not a distant dream in Denmark. That is part of the Danish vision to combat climate change.
In just under 30 years, Denmark has become world champ when it comes to harnessing the otherwise tough-to-control wind energy in the power system. And the experiences is shared in a new film called wind power – how to combat climate change produced by the Danish Wind Industry Association, Energinet.dk, the Danish Transmission System Operator and Climate Consortium Denmark.
The key to success is a well-equipped toolbox. A number of tools provide the recipe for integrating considerable amounts of wind energy into the power system, thus ensuring that wind energy is always used where most needed. The list of tools available today is long and will be growing longer.
“What particularly makes the Danish history of energy successful and interesting in an international context is that we have developed an electrical system that can integrate renewable energy in a large scale in corporation with district heating systems and decentralized cogeneration. Renewable energy will in increasing amounts be included in our future energy supply. This requires innovation and change in relations to both the electric-, heat- and transportation system today. This is what we with the short film about wind power want to shed light on,” says Hans Mogensen vice president of communications at Energinet.dk, that is the Danish Transmission System operator.
Greenhouse on the road to be energy producer
The greenhouse sector currently has extremely high energy overheads, so finding ways of reducing energy consumption is of great economic and climatic interest. In the longer term the aim is for greenhouses to actually produce energy themselves.
“By altering the climate control system at Hjortebjerg Nursery to a dynamic climate in which optimum use is made of natural light, we can reduce the whole nursery’s energy consumption by around 20 percent. In specific terms, the concept is to accept slightly higher temperature and humidity variations, so the idea is relatively easy to implement once you have developed the model,” explains Project Manager Anker Kuehn of AgroTech, which is involved in developing the new greenhouse concept.
The next step in the project has already been taken, with energy depots established underground in which surplus energy from the summer can be stored and reused during the cold months.
A greenhouse functions like an efficient solar collector, and on an annual basis receives twice as much solar energy as is used for a whole year’s heating. On an annual basis the energy consumption for heating the glasshouse area is an average of approx. 400 kWh per m², while annual insulation is approx. 1020 kWh pr m².
“For eight months of the year the energy input is higher than energy consumption. By collecting and storing the summer’s surplus heat and using it in the heating season, the greenhouse can become self-sufficient on energy – and even supply the nursery’s six other greenhouses. For a large part of the year heating requirements are limited to night-time,” explains Anker Kuehn.
“By altering the climate control system at Hjortebjerg Nursery to a dynamic climate in which optimum use is made of natural light, we can reduce the whole nursery’s energy consumption by around 20 percent. In specific terms, the concept is to accept slightly higher temperature and humidity variations, so the idea is relatively easy to implement once you have developed the model,” explains Project Manager Anker Kuehn of AgroTech, which is involved in developing the new greenhouse concept.
The next step in the project has already been taken, with energy depots established underground in which surplus energy from the summer can be stored and reused during the cold months.
A greenhouse functions like an efficient solar collector, and on an annual basis receives twice as much solar energy as is used for a whole year’s heating. On an annual basis the energy consumption for heating the glasshouse area is an average of approx. 400 kWh per m², while annual insulation is approx. 1020 kWh pr m².
“For eight months of the year the energy input is higher than energy consumption. By collecting and storing the summer’s surplus heat and using it in the heating season, the greenhouse can become self-sufficient on energy – and even supply the nursery’s six other greenhouses. For a large part of the year heating requirements are limited to night-time,” explains Anker Kuehn.
Greener grass without water or fertiliser
A new clover type much smaller than ordinary clover is the result of ten intensive years of breeding trials. The clover is called microclover and gives greener and more attractive lawns while reducing the need for water and fertiliser.
“Microclover lies under the grass like a carpet, and helps to keep the grass green all the year round – even in dry periods. The clover also produces nitrogen, which the grass needs in order to grow to a healthy green colour. Consequently a considerable reduction in water and fertiliser is possible,” explains Mogens Toft Jensen, Head of Marketing at DLF Trifolium, which is the worlds largest producer of clover and grass seeds.
<_p22_ />Microclover is already a success on golf courses, football pitches, at festivals and with landscape gardeners, who appreciate the little clover which makes grass healthy and green without taking over.
“We already use as little nitrogen (fertiliser) as possible on our football pitches. But on the pitches where we use microclover, we can further reduce consumption by more than 40 per cent,” says Carsten Petersen, Parks Department, Skanderborg Municipality, Denmark.
“Microclover lies under the grass like a carpet, and helps to keep the grass green all the year round – even in dry periods. The clover also produces nitrogen, which the grass needs in order to grow to a healthy green colour. Consequently a considerable reduction in water and fertiliser is possible,” explains Mogens Toft Jensen, Head of Marketing at DLF Trifolium, which is the worlds largest producer of clover and grass seeds.
<_p22_ />Microclover is already a success on golf courses, football pitches, at festivals and with landscape gardeners, who appreciate the little clover which makes grass healthy and green without taking over.
“We already use as little nitrogen (fertiliser) as possible on our football pitches. But on the pitches where we use microclover, we can further reduce consumption by more than 40 per cent,” says Carsten Petersen, Parks Department, Skanderborg Municipality, Denmark.
A quarter of a million climate signatures handed in to UN
Energy company Vattenfall is the first company of its type in the world to set itself the goal of being CO2-neutral by 2050. As it pursues its goal, the company wishes to remind politicians of the need to negotiate a just settlement at COP15 in Copenhagen in December.
“Through its climate manifesto, Vattenfall has given the public a chance to influence decision-makers at a global level. In this way, we want to give our backing to decision-makers in taking necessary actions to make it easier for companies and private individuals to slow the process of climate change”, says Vattenfall CEO Lars G. Josefsson.
The number of signatures reflects the enormous popular interest in the climate issue. The UN’s worldwide campaign “Seal the Deal” has the same purpose as our initiative – to achieve a positive decision on climate at COP 15 in Copenhagen – and we have therefore chosen to combine the two. That is why we are delivering almost a quarter of a million signatures to the UN climate summit in New York, where two thirds of the world’s heads of state and government are meeting.”
So far close to a quarter of a million people have signed Vattenfall’s climate manifesto, which demands:
1. A global price for CO2 emissions
2. More support for climate-friendly technology
3. Climate requirements on products
“Through its climate manifesto, Vattenfall has given the public a chance to influence decision-makers at a global level. In this way, we want to give our backing to decision-makers in taking necessary actions to make it easier for companies and private individuals to slow the process of climate change”, says Vattenfall CEO Lars G. Josefsson.
The number of signatures reflects the enormous popular interest in the climate issue. The UN’s worldwide campaign “Seal the Deal” has the same purpose as our initiative – to achieve a positive decision on climate at COP 15 in Copenhagen – and we have therefore chosen to combine the two. That is why we are delivering almost a quarter of a million signatures to the UN climate summit in New York, where two thirds of the world’s heads of state and government are meeting.”
So far close to a quarter of a million people have signed Vattenfall’s climate manifesto, which demands:
1. A global price for CO2 emissions
2. More support for climate-friendly technology
3. Climate requirements on products
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Climate change happening faster than predicted, new report says
Climate change is happening faster and on a broader scale than the world's scientists projected in 2007, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations Environment Program.
The new overview of global warming research, aimed at marshalling political support for a new international climate pact by the end of the year, highlights the extent to which recent scientific assessments have outstripped the predictions issued by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change two years ago.
That report declared that evidence of human-generated warming in the last half-century was "unequivocal" and would change the planet dramatically by 2100 unless greenhouse gas emissions drop sharply by 2050.
Achim Steiner, the U.N. environment agency's executive director, said at the National Press Club on Thursday that the new report aims to update the intergovernmental panel's finding to reflect both new physical evidence and a more sophisticated understanding of how earth systems work.
"With every day that passes, the underlying trends that science has provided is ... of such a dramatic nature that shying away from a major agreement in Copenhagen will probably be unforgivable, if you look back in history at this moment," Steiner said. Copenhagen is the site of major international climate conference in December.
Steiner noted that since 2000 alone, the average rate of melting at 30 glaciers in nine separate mountain ranges has doubled from the rate during the previous two decades.
"These are not things that are in dispute in terms of data," he said. "They are actually physically measurable."
Other findings include the possibility that sea level will rise by as much as six feet by 2100 instead of 1.5 feet, as the intergovernmental panel had projected.
Robert Correll, who chairs the Climate Action Initiative and contributed to the new U.N. report, said that even if all the pledges industrialized and developed countries have made to cut their greenhouse gas emissions are taken into account, global temperature would probably rise by 8 degrees Fahrenheit. That's two times higher than what scientists and world policymakers have identified as the upper limit of warming the world can afford to avert catastrophic climate change.
"We don't want to go there," Correll said, adding that global carbon emissions are still on the upswing. "It's accelerating, We're not going in the right direction."
The new overview of global warming research, aimed at marshalling political support for a new international climate pact by the end of the year, highlights the extent to which recent scientific assessments have outstripped the predictions issued by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change two years ago.
That report declared that evidence of human-generated warming in the last half-century was "unequivocal" and would change the planet dramatically by 2100 unless greenhouse gas emissions drop sharply by 2050.
Achim Steiner, the U.N. environment agency's executive director, said at the National Press Club on Thursday that the new report aims to update the intergovernmental panel's finding to reflect both new physical evidence and a more sophisticated understanding of how earth systems work.
"With every day that passes, the underlying trends that science has provided is ... of such a dramatic nature that shying away from a major agreement in Copenhagen will probably be unforgivable, if you look back in history at this moment," Steiner said. Copenhagen is the site of major international climate conference in December.
Steiner noted that since 2000 alone, the average rate of melting at 30 glaciers in nine separate mountain ranges has doubled from the rate during the previous two decades.
"These are not things that are in dispute in terms of data," he said. "They are actually physically measurable."
Other findings include the possibility that sea level will rise by as much as six feet by 2100 instead of 1.5 feet, as the intergovernmental panel had projected.
Robert Correll, who chairs the Climate Action Initiative and contributed to the new U.N. report, said that even if all the pledges industrialized and developed countries have made to cut their greenhouse gas emissions are taken into account, global temperature would probably rise by 8 degrees Fahrenheit. That's two times higher than what scientists and world policymakers have identified as the upper limit of warming the world can afford to avert catastrophic climate change.
"We don't want to go there," Correll said, adding that global carbon emissions are still on the upswing. "It's accelerating, We're not going in the right direction."
Strong earthquake rocks Peru
A strong earthquake struck southeastern Peru on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
The earthquake, which struck about 48 miles from Juliaca, Peru, had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). It was initially reported as a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. It struck about 160 miles deep, making it a deep earthquake. Shallow earthquakes often tend to cause more damage.
There was no immediate report of damage or casualties following the tremor, but a spokesman for the USGS said he would not expect any significant damage as the epicenter was located very deep.
The quake follows a series of powerful earthquakes in just 24 hours. On Tuesday, a powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck near Samoa, creating deadly tidal waves that devastated Samoa and American Samoa.
On Wednesday, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia, leaving possibly up to 1,000 people killed.
The earthquake, which struck about 48 miles from Juliaca, Peru, had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). It was initially reported as a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. It struck about 160 miles deep, making it a deep earthquake. Shallow earthquakes often tend to cause more damage.
There was no immediate report of damage or casualties following the tremor, but a spokesman for the USGS said he would not expect any significant damage as the epicenter was located very deep.
The quake follows a series of powerful earthquakes in just 24 hours. On Tuesday, a powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck near Samoa, creating deadly tidal waves that devastated Samoa and American Samoa.
On Wednesday, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia, leaving possibly up to 1,000 people killed.
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