By Timothy B. Hurst

When the folks at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado were tasked with designing a new building, they couldn’t help but take their name and mission quite literally.

Early in the design process, the team at NREL, along with a team of architects and contractors chose to use reclaimed natural gas pipe to hold the floors and walls of the new LEED-platinum Research Support Facilities, slated for completion in Summer of 2010.

The steel natural gas pipe used in the building was purchased from a company that specializes in salvaging gas piping that has been taken out of service. Typically, pipes sold by these salvage retailers come from depleted fields in Texas or Louisiana, but in this case, the gas pipe was never used and was sold by the owners to the reclamation yard. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have used old pipe.

“Recycled steel doesn’t go bad,” said Philip Macey, project manager for RNL, the design firm for the Research Support Facilities. “You simply can clear the rust off and it’s a big resource worldwide.”

Not only were architects able to utilize materials that added no new carbon to the atmosphere, the effort to make the new LEED-platinum building created aesthetic benefits that are hard to come by. “Getting round columns in a building is a bit of a dream. Out of 100 buildings, only one other would have honest round steel columns,” said Macey.

The building will also use another resource which is abundant right now in Colorado, wood paneling made from mountain pine beetle kill. Beetle-killed wood that also provides 75% of NRELs heat via their new $3.3 million wood-fired boiler. “There are a lot of recycled and regionally available materials for use in buildings,” Macey said. “Once people understand this, they will be surprised at how easy it is to make these choices.”

Read the original article at Earth and Industry

Ballard chose to monetize its rights under the Share Purchase Agreement with Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) relating to Ballard's 19.9% equity interest in Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp. (AFCC).

Ballard will receive total gross proceeds of approximately $44.5 million: a $37 million payment immediately and a further contingent payment of $7.5 million due upon maturation of the Share Purchase Agreement on or before January 31, 2013. Ballard's receipt of the contingent payment is subject to the financial institution's rights in the transaction remaining unsubordinated.

Ballard sold the majority of AFCC to Ford and Daimer AG (NYSE: DAI) in the beginning of 2008.

Bruce Cousins, Ballard's Chief Financial Officer said, "Given the recent improvement in public debt market conditions and Ford's credit rating, we believe that this is the appropriate time to monetize this non-core investment."

John Sheridan, Ballard's President & CEO said, "The cash proceeds from this transaction bolster Ballard's strong balance sheet and strengthen our positioning to execute our clean energy growth priorities in backup power, supplemental power, distributed generation and motive power applications."

Ballard expects to book a gain associated with this transaction of approximately $34 million in its fourth quarter results. This transaction does not affect Ballard's business relationships with AFCC, Daimler, Ford, and their affiliates. Ballard will continue to supply technical services and fuel cell components and modules.

As part of the monetization agreement, Ballard has pledged its shares in AFCC and assigned its right to "put" or sell those shares to Ford for $65 million plus interest after January 31, 2013. The value of the monetization of the agreement with a financial institution was determined based on a number of variables, including Ford's cost of borrowing, expected future London Interbank Offered Rates (LIBOR), time remaining to the Share Purchase Agreement's maturity date and general market and other conditions. All required approvals from Daimler AG, Ford and AFCC were received prior to the closing of this transaction. Ballard's intellectual property rights are unaffected by this transaction.

Daimler Supply Agreement

In a separate release, Ballard announced a supply agreement with Daimler AG for FCvelocity(TM) fuel cell products for Daimler AG's fuel cell car and bus programs.

Ballard said the agreement provides for minimum revenue of approximately $24 million over eighteen months from April 2010, with roughly equal distribution in 2010 and 2011.

Website: www.ballard.com

Reprinted with permission from SustainableBusiness.com

No new coal plants broke ground in 2009, a result of a combination of widespread public opposition, rising costs, increasing financial risks and concerns over future carbon regulations. In 2009 twenty-six coal-fired power plants--which would have emitted 146 million tons of carbon dioxide annually-- were defeated or abandoned, the largest number of new coal plants defeated since the coal rush began in 2001. This progress opens the way for a transition to a clean energy economy, including a 22.5% increase in electricity generated from wind between 2008 and 2009.

Total coal use is down in 2009 according to the Energy Information Agency, as the Obama administration is considering new regulations for the safe disposal of coal ash, and limiting emissions of mercury, soot, smog and global warming pollution from coal plants.

From the mine, to the plant, to the ash, 2009 has not been a good year for the coal industry. The Obama Administration has blocked most new permits to bury streams with waste as part of mountaintop removal mining operations, and is also increasing oversight of existing mining operations in Appalachia, the Sierra Club said. The largest new consumer of mountaintop removal coal, the Santee Cooper coal plant planned for South Carolina, will not be moving forward.

Neither will plans to significantly expand the export of coal from the Powder River Basin. After a decade-long fight, the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad project was abandoned in August. The DM&E rail project would have carried enough coal to power about 50 medium size coal plants.

Among the coal plants defeated or abandoned this year are the massive American Municipal Power coal plant proposed in Ohio and the Big Stone II plant in South Dakota. Developers pulled the plug on both projects, despite having successfully finished the permitting process, because of rising concerns about the sharply escalating costs and the promise of future carbon regulations. A new Washington Post survey found that almost two-thirds of Americans support federal regulations to reduce global warming pollution from power plants.

Since the beginning of the coal rush in 2001 when there were more than 150 proposed coal plants announced, 111 proposed new coal plants have been defeated or abandoned, keeping over 450 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the air each year. Tens of thousands of concerned citizens across the country have joined the beyond coal movement, helping bring about tangible change in the way America is powered.

"2009 has been a remarkable year in our fight for clean energy," said Bruce Nilles, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. "Although there are still about 90 remaining proposals, the landscape has shifted 180-degrees. Communities across America have become aware about the danger of coal and have organized to stop these projects from moving forward. The public is rising up, demanding cleaner energy, and developers and investors are taking note. There is a shift going on across America as companies realign away from old dirty practices involving coal and toward cleaner energy options, including wind, solar and becoming more efficient."

In 2009 several companies also announced plans to start transitioning away from existing coal plants, many of which are decades old. Progress Energy announced plans to close several coal plants in North Carolina, and the Tennessee Valley Authority is considering phasing out parts of its fleet of plants in Tennessee and Alabama.

Verena Owen, Volunteer Leader of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign concluded, "the grassroots movement to push our country beyond coal continues to gain momentum--whether it is pushing for cleaner energy; no new coal plants; beginning the transition away from the oldest coal plants; working to improve mining practices; or fighting to clean up toxic coal ash; people across the country are fired up about a clean energy future and are refusing to let coal block the way."

The Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign is a nationwide campaign working to ensure coal is mined responsibly, burned cleanly, and disposed of safely. The campaign is working to lessen America’s dependence on coal and accelerate the transition to clean energy alternatives like wind and solar.

The website below shows a full list of proposed coal plants defeated, abandoned and still proposed.

Website: www.sierraclub.org/coal/coalnearyou

Reprinted with permission from SustainableBusiness.com

A multidisciplinary panel concluded that the sounds generated by wind turbines are not harmful to human health, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced last week.

Comprised of medical doctors, audiologists, and acoustical professionals from the United States, Canada, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, the panel undertook extensive review, analysis, and discussion of the large body of peer-reviewed literature, specifically with regard to sound produced by wind turbines. The expert panel was established by AWEA and the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) to review all current literature available on the issue of perceived health effects of wind turbines.

"The panel’s multidisciplinary approach helped to fully explore the many published scientific reports related to the potential impact of wind turbines on people’s health," said Dr. Robert J. McCunney, one of the authors of the study and an occupational/environmental medicine physician and research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). "There is no evidence that the sounds, nor the sub-audible vibrations, emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effects on humans."

"The objective of the panel was to provide an authoritative, scientific reference document for those making legislative and regulatory decisions about wind turbine developments," said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. "This study is another indication that wind is one of the most environmentally benign sources of electricity available."

Other findings include:

"The sounds emitted by wind turbines are not unique. There is no reason to believe, based on the levels and frequencies of the sounds, that they could plausibly have direct adverse physiological effects." If sound levels from wind turbines were harmful, it would be impossible to live in a city given the sound levels normally present in urban environments. "Sub-audible, low frequency sound and infrasound from wind turbines do not present a risk to human health." "Some people may be annoyed at the presence of sound from wind turbines. Annoyance is not a pathological entity." For more than thirty years, people have been living near the more than 50,000 wind turbines operating in Europe and the more than 30,000 in North America. The vast majority of people have had a positive experience living near wind turbines, with no ill effects, AWEA said.

An executive summary of the report is available at the link below.

Website: www.awea.org/newsroom/releases/AWEA_CanWEA_SoundWhitePaper_ExecSumm.pdf

Reprinted with permission from SustainableBusiness.com<.p>

By Jared Friedman

“Absolutely awesome!” is how Jit Bhattacharya the COO of Mission Motors based in San Francisco, CA described a recent test run of their Mission One electric motorcycle. With Tesla already proving that an electric sports car can outperform its gas-powered predecessors, Mission Motors is seeking to show that electric motorcycles are every bit as capable at high-performance endeavors as their four wheeled counterparts.

A major hurdle Mission Motors and every other electric vehicle would-be firm has had to contend with is that of storing power. Whereas automobiles have plenty of space for batteries, squeezing all that juice between two legs and two wheels is a major challenge. However, Mission Motors is well on their way to solving the juice issue. Already their motorcycle can reach speeds of over 150 mph and travel around 150 miles on a single charge while weighing only slightly more than a similarly powered gas motorcycle.

As a startup company funded by venture capitalists, Mission Motors finds itself in the position of a race against time. They have milestones, performance measures and production levels they must meet if they want to get their bikes to market. They are not the only company working on electric motorcycles and they will not be the first to hit the market with a working model but their goal is to be the best high-performance motorcycle available and offer models that look the same as their gas powered competition but feel much differently.

“We are all motorcycle aficionados here, we are drawn to this industry because we love motorcycles and the freedom they bring. But until you’ve felt the unbelievable power coming from a virtually silent motor, you have never really experienced how good a motorcycle can feel,” says Jit Bhattacharya.

The first production all-electric high-performance models are expected to be available in 2010 and will fetch somewhere in the upper $60k range.

[photo credit: Mission Motors]

Reprinted with permission from Cleantechies

Nissan is on tour promoting its upcoming electric vehicle, the Leaf, in select cities across the U.S. The 5-passenger EV will become available in December 2010, and faces many challenges in fostering a supporting vehicle charging infrastructure and creating consumer-friendly financing options, but thus far they seem to have a well-conceived plan. During an event in Portland this week I spoke with Nissan senior manager for corporate planning Brian Verprauskus about the Leaf launch plans.

Ensuring that consumers will be ready to charge on the day that they bring the vehicle home is a new challenge for Nissan and the other EV manufacturers. Nissan plans to partner with a nationally known company to provide the wall box for plugging in the vehicle and to manage matching vehicle owners with electricians. Nissan will choose a company that has experience going into consumers’ homes, and will likely announce the partner in early 2010. Consumers will need to connect the box to a dedicated circuit for EV charging, which requires carefully managing the process to reduce risk of a customer improperly plugging in a vehicle and causing damage to the vehicle or property. Nissan’s plan is smart because many consumers will need hand holding to understand the issues of EV charging, and a company with adept at customer relations will be key.

Nissan is putting the majority of the intelligence in the vehicle charging equipment, which enables them to monitor and manage charging. This includes delayed charging, a critical feature for utilities who fear EVs adding to peak demand. This is also necessary because today there are few standards for managing charging and for hardware and communications standards, so Nissan had to create its own technology until the rest of the industry catches up.

Nissan has elected to use cellular networks to send data between the vehicle and the company. This will also enable Nissan to send text messages to consumers to alert them if the vehicle is not plugged in when at the scheduled time.

Consumers will also be able to pre-heat and pre-cool their vehicles through messages sent from their cell phones. These features address a fundamental challenge with electric vehicles – they not only have to be emissions free to satisfy environmentally-conscious customers, but they also need to be the most geeked-out vehicles that most consumers have ever driven. The EV experience must be clearly differentiated from driving a gasoline car because consumers won’t save money driving EVs until the price of gasoline rises significantly.

Down the road Nissan will have to deal with contention between equipment as smart meters and smart wall boxes will also have features for managing charging. As new standards are passed, it will be a bit messy as auto manufacturers will have to upgrade equipment and react to potential hardware incompatibilities.

Another challenge for Nissan and other EV manufacturers is pricing the vehicles and the batteries. The company will lease the vehicles and batteries, sell the vehicles and lease the batteries, or sell the vehicles with the batteries. If Nissan attractively prices the batteries assuming that I can resell them after 5 years but cannot find a market, the company may have to write them off at a sizable loss.

Nissan has picked select markets including Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles to launch the Leaf, which will enable the company to work the kinks out before a nationwide launch. The support of business, civic, and political leaders for a charging infrastructure is critical for EV success. So far Nissan appears to be forming all of the right partnerships to make that possible.

John Gartner is Editor in Chief of Matter Network and a Senior Analyst at Pike Research.