Batteries are the 'holy grail' for transitioning to clean energy but development is slow

If renewable energy has matured into a stable family of industries, battery storage technology might be seen as the awkward adolescent of the bunch, hitting a growth spurt but still viewed skeptically by investors.

Despite excitement about the development of large-scale batteries as the “holy grail” for transitioning the power grid to a clean energy future, the technology for now remains out of reach. 

“There has been a lot of investment,” said Prashant Kumta, a University of Pittsburgh engineering professor who leads research on battery storage and materials science. “But if you look at the success, it’s not commensurate with the amount of investment.” 

Mr. Kumta hopes that will change this fall when the school will uproot his laboratory on the eighth floor of Benedum Hall on Pitt’s campus and move it into a space twice as big — a 3,040-square-foot section of the Energy Innovation Center, the re-purposed former Connelley Trade School on Bedford Avenue in the Lower Hill District. 

More room to work and increased visibility are the most noticeable perks of the 200,000-square-foot center. Because the center was built off-campus without the use of tax-free bonds, it’s also easier for researchers to give companies access to their work and become familiar with it at early stages.

This is a big deal because academic researchers may have a hard time pitching their ideas to investors. 

“Companies are skeptical of everything,” said Mr. Kumta, who has been working in battery technology since the early-1990s. “They won’t believe a university technology out there is real unless they look into it themselves.”  

Explosive growth

Battery technology has ballooned with the need to store large amounts of power generated by intermittent sources — wind and solar generators that produce power when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. Homes and businesses, for example, can send power from their rooftop solar systems into a battery and draw from it when needed.

The principle is the same for utilities and electric grid operators, which try to smooth out the flow of power between power plants and large swaths of service territory. 

In 2015, developers installed 221 megawatts of battery capacity, nearly four times as much capacity as in the year before, according to GreenTech Media, a research firm that tracks growth in clean energy technology.

Last week, the Energy Storage Association, a Washington, D.C., trade group, launched a weeklong social media marketing campaign called #StorageIsHere. It held a Twitter session to answer questions about the technology and shared examples of successful installations. The point is to correct a misconception that storage technology is years away from commercialization, said Matt Roberts, executive director of the group.

“We just wanted to make a splash and show people that it is here today, and it’s providing value,” Mr. Roberts said. 

Reaching commercialization

The reality is that each line of research approaches energy storage from different sides. In Pittsburgh, Jay Whitacre, a professor of materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, spun out Aquion Energy from the school in 2009. The private Lawrenceville-based company manufactures sodium-ion batteries and energy storage systems. 

Addressing CMU’s Energy Week conference last month, Mr. Whitacre said there’s not much more room for a battery’s price to come down. The goal is to increase the lifetime of a battery to amortize the investment over a longer period of time and make the customer’s investment worth it. 

Because Aquion’s saltwater battery is naturally corrosive, the company is studying how to coat the cubes that form the electrode with polymers that protect them from corrosion, he said. 

“The near-term energy storage solution won’t be significantly less expensive,” he said. “So we have to increase the lifetime.”

At Mr. Kumta’s lab, a team of graduate students is experimenting with a flexible material to hold energy. During a tour last week, students manufactured flexible anodes using silicon as the active material and produced sulfur wires.

Combining both components to make a complete flexible battery system, it will be capable of delivering about 900 watt-hours per kilogram — a common measure of energy density that shows power held for each unit of mass — which is at least 4 times higher than current battery systems.

“It is therefore definitely viable but needs some more research and engineering,” Mr. Kumta said. With industry support at the Energy Innovation Center, this should be possible in about a year or two, he said. 

Hits and misses

New Castle-based Axion Power Inc., a manufacturer of lead-carbon batteries, is among those companies that have struggled with attracting lasting investment. Though the company did not respond to requests for comment, financial filings show it has watched promising partnerships develop slowly or crumble altogether.

Axion has marketed its battery as especially useful for electric and hybrid vehicles, and the company in 2010 struck a deal with Norfolk Southern Corp. to test its battery in locomotives to help reduce emissions. The effort came to fruition in 2015, according to a company presentation, and although the battery itself functioned, the locomotives experienced “several electronic system errors.” Norfolk Southern declined to comment on the deal. 

Perhaps Axion’s most ambitious deal to date involved sending 100 batteries to Chinese firm LCB International Inc. for testing and development. In a letter of intent signed in June, Axion received $250,000 in earnest money from LCB and expected further payments after a final agreement. 

But by October, the deal fell apart, and Axion Chairman Donald Farley blamed LCB for backing away from the terms of the deal, according to a letter to shareholders. 

The company has reported widening losses in recent years, reporting a nearly $19 million loss in 2014. Just more than a year after going public, Axion voluntarily removed itself in February from the Nasdaq stock exchange for falling below the minimum of $2.5 million in stockholders’ equity. 

Still, the company forges ahead, announcing in March that it supplied batteries for the construction of an off-grid system to power a facility for Urban Green Lab, a nonprofit based in Nashville, Tenn. In a statement, CEO Richard Bogan said the deal had been two years in the making.

“We will use the experience … to further demonstrate uses for our technology,” he said. “The lab debuted in February and has already been used as a platform for green technology education in workshops at schools, businesses and public events in the Nashville area.”

Daniel Moore: dmoore@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2743 and Twitter @PGdanielmoore. Anya Litvak contributed reporting. 

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Batteries are the "holy grail" for transitioning to clean energy but development is slow

Alan Northcutt, guest columnist: Clearing up myths about clean energy, today's renewables

In his Feb. 10 column in the Tribune-Herald, Bill Hammond of the Texas Association of Business disparaged President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and opposed current actions to combat anthropogenic climate change. Since accurate information is mandatory during this planetary emergency of climate change, it is important to point out the myths which riddle Mr. Hammond’s column.

Myth 1: “The science of climate change is anything but settled.” This dangerous, ubiquitous meme promotes delay in addressing the problem. The truth: 97 percent of peer-reviewed climatology research, every legitimate scientific association on Earth, the pope and the 195 nations that signed the Paris Agreement in December accept the concept of manmade climate change. Even the U.S. Department of Defense observes that “climate change poses immediate risks to the U.S. national security and has potential to exacerbate terrorism.”

Myth 2: The U.S. Clean Power Plan results are so small they “cannot be measured.” In reality, the plan is designed to reduce greenhouse gases from electricity generation by 32 percent. This reduction is one-fourth of the requirement of the Paris Agreement and thus a strong beginning toward that goal. And the announcement of the plan convinced other nations that the United States is serious about combatting climate change.

Myth 3: “We truthfully don’t know whether all nations acting together can have a measurable impact on the climate.” When the 195 nation signatories of the Paris Agreement reach their commitments for emission reductions, global temperature will increase from 2.7 to 4.0 degree C. This is an enormous improvement over uncontrolled emissions, which would result in greater than 6.0 degree temp increase, a level incompatible with human civilization. Each five years the nations will ratchet up emission limits with an ultimate goal of 1.5 degree temperature increase — a level which will prevent the worst ravages of climate change.

Myth 4: The United States will suffer economically, while developing nations like China and India continue to pollute. Using China and India as an excuse for the United States’ inaction is now utterly fraudulent. The 195 countries of the Paris Agreement signed a legally binding commitment to reach their Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). Essentially every country on Earth has published a verifiable carbon emission limit and operates under similar timetables. China has begun a very ambitious plan to reach its emission limits by 2030, not beginning in 2030 as Mr. Hammond states. And China is a leader in renewable energy technology, with more installed wind and solar power than any country on Earth.

Myth 5: “Americans will face lost jobs, lost income and huge utility bills.” The Paris Agreement committed the world to a low-carbon economy, with jobs needed in energy efficiency retrofit, mass-transit services, smart-grid construction and wind, solar and biomass industries. A study by Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts reported that a $1 million investment in the green economy yields 17 jobs, while a $1 million investment in fossil fuels yields only five jobs.

Workers losing jobs in fossil-fuel industries will find new jobs in the green economy as we transition to renewables. The purchase cost of renewable energy is a complex issue, but in some markets renewable generation is now cheaper than coal or natural gas. For example, Austin Energy recently contracted with a solar farm at less than five cents per kilowatt-hour.

Myth 6: Solar and wind power will only become relevant when new battery technology is developed. The truth: Renewable energy is enormous and growing faster than fossil fuels. The following jurisdictions are powered by 100 percent renewable energy: Iceland; Bonaire; Lesotho; Aspen, Colorado; Burlington, Vermont; Greensburg, Kansas; Beaverton, Oregon; and Kodiak Island, Alaska. And solar thermal facilities exist which store electricity as heat for 24-hour power. There are more than 60 units around the world, including the 392-megawatt Ivanpah System in the Mojave Desert. And battery storage is actually available now, including the Powerwall system from Tesla for residential use.

Myth 7: “We must be patient and let science and technology work at a careful reasonable pace to find energy solutions instead of crippling our economy…” In other words, Mr. Hammond wishes to delay implementation of our conversion to renewables so that oil companies can maximize profits. Unfortunately, we cannot delay since the planet’s carbon budget will be exceeded in about 16 years and we will experience crop failure, worsening starvation, migration, inter-nation conflict, submerging cities; and devastating storms.

Fortunately, we do have the technology now to convert fully to clean energy, documented by the Stanford Engineering Department at TheSolutionsProject.org. We must use this technology, along with conservation, to protect our children’s future. As for Mr. Hammond’s concerns, there is no economy on a dead planet.

Alan Northcutt is a local physician and director of the Waco Friends of Peace/Climate.

Alan Northcutt, guest columnist: Clearing up myths about clean energy, today"s renewables

Space: the new frontier in clean energy

Col. Michael “Coyote” Smith(Photo: Contributed)

Sci-fi isn’t all fiction anymore. Harnessing the power in outer space is closer than we think, and in just a few years, electrical energy from the sun could be beamed down to charge the smartphone in your pocket.

Think Bluetooth, but on a galactic scale.

The concept dates back to science fiction authors of the 1940s, but it was proposed recently by Air University professors at Maxwell and leading scientists across the globe. The idea is to launch massive solar paneled satellites into outer space. From space, the panels would harness the energy of the sun and transmit it to Earth as clean electrical power.

Solar panels placed in space would allow continuous absorption of solar energy without the hassle of atmospheric and day-to-night disruptions.

Space-based solar power could be used for saving other natural resources, lowering consumer electricity costs and powering Third World countries. The possibilities are endless, and it could all start in Montgomery.

A decade ago, Col. M. V. “Coyote” Smith, while working for the Pentagon’s National Security Space Office, was given a mission to save the world – without any money and a six-month deadline.

He jumped at the challenge.

Now, his team’s revolutionary project on space-based solar power is in the running to win perhaps as much as $10 billion to develop and deploy such systems.  This could result in a portion of this development being done here in Alabama – in Huntsville and maybe across the state.

Titled “Carbon-Free Energy for Global Resilience and International Goodwill,” the proposal is one of six finalists selected out of 500 entries for the Department of Defense’s first-time innovation challenge for the D3 [Diplomacy, Development, Defense] Summit.

A decision on the winning proposal will be made Jan. 25 after teams brief the Secretary of Defense, DOD senior leaders, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.

If selected, the plan may not come to fruition for another decade. Still, the long-term benefits and applications are endless.

Smith said energy that is “broadcast” from space will not only power the grid, but eventually could power everything wirelessly, from household appliances, cell phones, and even transportation.

He also said that, in his opinion, Alabama and the U.S. have the lead in the research, although Europe, China and Russia are working on similar technology.

“Right now, we do have a lead should we choose to use it,” Smith said. “We have the potential of becoming the Saudi Arabia of safe, clean energy for the 21st century.”

The design falls in line with Maxwell’s new Cyber College, spearheaded by Air University’s commander and president Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, to increase national security against cyber attacks.

“We are extremely honored to have been one of the few ideas selected out of over 500 entries. Air University personnel have been championing this idea since our early futures work in the mid-’90s,” Kwast said in a release.

Alabama is seemingly an unlikely candidate to station such a powerhouse of energy, but it is, in Smith’s opinion, an ideal location for interested corporations looking to invest in this kind of technology with the close proximity of Huntsville as a “Silicon Valley,” and Montgomery on its way to becoming the next “Gig City,” Smith said.

“I can easily envision this concept having massive appeal to industries who are looking for areas with low cost of living and low property taxes to establish major satellite plants here. This could be where the central control station would be established to operate the satellites that feed electricity into into power grids, not just here in Alabama, but around the globe,” Smith said.

“I’ve already had interested corporations speak with me, who were looking at the Hyundai plant and how attractive their business has become here,” Smith added.

Smith emphasized the project, if approved, would not be owned or affiliated with the military, but rather the Air Force would like to be a customer.

“I would really like to see investments from the petroleum and coal industries working collaboratively with government to establish a commercial space-based solar power enterprise to provide safe, clean energy to electric companies and co-ops,” Smith said. “This comes at a time when environmental concerns about carbon are going to cost a lot in fees.”

When Smith was assigned the project a decade ago, he was working at the Pentagon.

“We were supposed to solve the world’s energy crisis through an alternative energy source that was not only clean, but safe,” Smith said. “So that’s when I decided to lead the first crowd-sourcing study on the Internet to gather ideas.”

Smith invited the world’s best minds to contribute ideas and theories in an open forum. His boss didn’t take to the idea at first.

“’We’re the Department of Defense, we don’t do studies on the open Internet,’ he said, but he changed his mind, because this was too important of an idea,” Smith explained.

Within a month, Smith had received more than 200 responses from space scientists, engineers, businesses, lawyers, insurance companies, satellite designers and those from Maxwell looking to help in the process.

What they came up with hopes to reassert the U.S. as a leader not only in space, but also in energy production and other technologies, as well as fight climate change, create jobs and make the U.S. a clean energy exporter.

Smith, who teaches at Air University’s School of Advanced Air and Space Power Studies and Lt. Col. Peter Garretson at Air Command and Staff College – both at Maxwell – brought the team together to include Air University’s Center for Space Innovation, Department of State Bureau of Energy Implementation, Defense Advanced Projects Agency, Joint Staff Logistics Directorate, the Naval Research Laboratory, with industry stakeholders Mankins Space Technology Inc. and Northrop Grumman.

Even if the concept is selected on Jan. 25, however, it may be another decade before production begins.

“It’s going to be a crawl, walk, run process … There’s a lot of moving pieces to be considered,” Smith said.

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Space: the new frontier in clean energy

Power Struggle: Will Local-Energy Groups Come Clean?

Seven years ago local officials in Marin County, California organized to form a nonprofit electricity company with the noblest intentions. Buying and selling electricity allowed the group, Marin Clean Energy (MCE), to route around the local utility giant, Pacific Gas & Electric, which for years had resisted its customers’ pleas for cleaner, more reliable power, all the while “greenwashing” its image with marketing campaigns. “People wanted more of a sense of how their dollars were being invested,” Alex DiGiorgio, MCE’s community development manager, tells Capital & Main. “They wanted more access to competitively priced renewable energy.”

They also wanted to “catalyze local project development,” DiGiorgio says, to see their electricity bills go toward something more beneficial for the local community than large hydroelectric dams, polluting gas-fired power plants and a nuclear facility built over an earthquake fault.

But critics of the local-power movement say agencies like MCE — whose very reason for being was to stimulate renewable energy development — mostly support already extant renewable facilities. That’s because in their quest to find affordable power that they could rightfully label green, MCE went far beyond the local community, beyond the state and even outside the regional market. Its first power purchase contract was not with a new solar plant in the Central Valley nor a wind farm in Wyoming, but with Shell Energy North America, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell based in Houston, Texas.

The hard reality is that in 2008, when MCE was first formed, and even in 2010, when the agency began serving customers, the renewable energy markets of the West remained far behind community power’s ideals. Wind and solar power still cost more than their dirtier counterparts, and their intermittent, often unpredictable power posed challenges that grid managers had yet to solve.

The agency has also exploited other tricks of the strange and complicated renewable energy market to sell customers premium options derived from 50 percent or even 100 percent renewable energy. Instead of buying actual green electrons, MCE’s buyers fluffed their portfolio with free-floating renewable energy “credits” bought and sold independent of actual generation. They’ve also relied on substitute power supplies, offered on the market to balance intermittent wind and solar energy, but which too often simply cloak coal or nuclear electrons in green.

“MCE is trying very hard to be a leader on clean energy,” says Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney at The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a San Francisco-based consumer and clean-energy advocate. “But the test for success is whether they’re driving new renewable energy generation in the state and in the West.”

So far, MCE, along with many other community power agencies around the country, is failing that test. “If all you’re doing is trading short-term energy surpluses from already existing energy facilities,” Freedman says, “you’re not having much impact on new generation.”

In fact, he says, the community groups in some cases might be having the opposite effect. California lawmakers have “tried to develop rules that will result in meaningful, incremental change in the amount of renewable energy generated in the state,” Freedman says. But by relying so heavily on virtual green energy products designed by third-party sellers — “market actors who operate like financial traders,” as Freedman describes them — groups like MCE are contributing to an energy market made to look more green than it actually is.

The way they’re operating now, Freedman says, “will not help California achieve its ambitious clean energy goals.”

Thirteen years have passed since the California State legislature made it possible for entities like Marin Clean Energy to come into being, when Assembly Bill 117 established what’s known as Community Choice Aggregation. The new law made starting up easier for community power groups by guaranteeing them an initial customer base: No longer would they have to lure consumers away from their traditional utilities; once a community power group had been established by elected officials, everyone within its territory who didn’t explicitly opt out would automatically be subscribed.

Nor would community-choice groups need to take over their distribution networks, with all their wires and poles and switching stations — a prohibitive capital investment. Community choice aggregators, or CCAs, could still contract with their established utility for the metering and transmission of electricity; the nonprofits would just make the decisions about where that energy came from, with an emphasis on clean, local power.

The state’s investor-owned utilities, PG&E in particular, have fought the CCA movement. In 2010, PG&E sunk $46 million into a failed ballot initiative that would have effectively killed CCAs by requiring prior approval from potential customers in their respective jurisdictions. More recently, the utility pushed a bill by Assemblyman Steve Bradford (D-Gardena) that would have made future CCAs “opt-in” businesses— available only to consumers who explicitly choose to enroll. Under pressure from environmental groups, the bill failed.

But the CCA trend has not only continued, it seems to have picked up momentum as more renewable energy plants come online on the Western grid. Marin Clean Energy, California’s first CCA, now serves 11 municipalities spread out across three counties. Sonoma County inaugurated its public-power service in May of 2014 to serve 20,000 customers, and a year later, Lancaster, California signed its first 850 customers to Lancaster Choice Energy.

“We could never realize our goal of becoming a ‘net zero’ city” — one that produces more energy than it uses — “if we were still buying power from Southern California Edison,” says deputy city manager Jason Caudle, one of the program’s main engineers. SCE will still provide distribution and metering services to the city.

Consumer satisfaction with the new agencies has so far been high. Only 20 percent of consumers in MCE’s service area have elected to stay with PG&E, which DiGiorgio credits mostly to the agency’s ability to provide affordable electricity. The Shell deal might have “raised a few eyebrows,” he admits, but MCE’s first task was to offer low-cost clean energy to everyone in its jurisdiction, even those on fixed incomes. If it couldn’t do that, DiGiorgio says, “people would conclude that renewable energy wasn’t economically feasible.”

But whether the nonprofit aggregators are truly spurring the development of new renewable energy remains an open question. Sonoma Clean Power, which started up, says public relations director Kate Kelly, with robust financial support from the county, its water agency and a local bank, has been able to sign a substantial number of fresh contracts for what California regulators consider “Category 1” power — renewable energy from a single, verifiable source. Lancaster has signed one agreement with a new 10-megawatt solar facility, and another with an already existing wind farm in the nearby Tehachapi Mountains. However, MCE operated for four years before it signed a substantial contract with a new renewable energy provider, a 10.5 megawatt solar plant on the grounds of the Chevron refinery in the city of Richmond, to be completed in August of 2016.

But both MCE and Lancaster also purchase significant amounts of “Category 3” renewables — renewable energy credits sold, often at bargain-basement prices, independent of the wind, solar or geothermal electrons responsible for those credits. Such credits perform an important function in the energy marketplace, says Noah Long, the legal director for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Western Energy Project, serving a voluntary market of companies and utilities that  either want to support renewable energy beyond the mandatory goals states set for utilities — or at least make it appear that they do.

“Corporations that espouse green values buy them to claim they use 100 percent renewable energy,” Long says. Electricity retailers in California can also use the credits to meet 15 percent of their state-mandated goals, of 30 percent renewables by 2020 and 50 percent by 2030. California utilities can’t use them in the 100 percent renewable options they offer customers, the way MCE and Lancaster do; a 2013 law, supported by TURN and the Sierra Club, created a “shared renewables” program for utilities instead that draws upon actual renewable energy generation. But utilities in many other states can. “Over half of the renewable energy in the U.S. right now serves the voluntary market,” Long says.

What so-called “unbundled” renewable energy credits don’t do, or do only rarely, is finance new generation. Nor does “Category 2” renewable energy, blocks of non-renewable power paired with unbundled credits from wind and solar plants out of state. When MCE had to account in its compliance reports for its Category 2 supplies, it named the Palo Verde Nuclear Plant in Arizona as one of the sources of imported electricity bundled with credits and passed off as renewable. Which means that, after credits and electrons got mixed up and moved around on the market, MCE customers ended up supporting exactly the kind of generation they’re trying to dump.

More important, perhaps, is the fact that all the buying and selling and trading of credits, swirling around on the market untethered from their generation, deprives new and verifiable renewable energy projects of financing. The more CCAs rely on substitute power and untethered green tags, the less inclined they’ll be to support new generation.

“If you’re planning to build a $500 million project, even if you’ve already invested in the planning and permitting, you’re still not going to build that project without a long-term power purchase agreement,” says Matthew Freedman. “Ten years is good; 20 is better.” That’s how a new energy facility attracts investors, who want most of all to know that they’re going to get their money back, plus a decent return.

Such agreements also help the buyer: “If you sign a contract for six cents per kilowatt hour, that electricity costs six cents on the first day and six cents on the last day,” Freedman says. “You just bought an insurance policy to protect you against the potentially rising cost of conventional energy.”

For the sake of both its long-term finances and to remain true to its clean-energy goals, then, Sonoma Clean Power has pledged to derive no more than three percent of its entire energy portfolio from unbundled renewable energy credits. Voters in San Francisco in November approved a ballot measure that would limit the use of unbundled credits by its forthcoming CCA, CleanPowerSF, which will launch next year after more than a decade of planning. And MCE, which has already reduced the use of such credits from 30 percent in 2014 to 15 percent in 2015, will match Sonoma’s goal in 2016.

DiGiorgio makes no apologies, however, for buying them in the past. The revenue earned from supplying premium services with unbundled credits has helped support MCE’s “feed-in-tariff,” program, which offers fixed-price contracts with small-scale solar providers within its service area. One of those projects, at the San Rafael Airport, is the largest solar installation in Marin County’s history.

“It’s only one humble megawatt,” DiGiorgio says, just one one-thousandth of an average coal plant. But it demonstrates the power of what he calls “truly democratized” energy. “PG&E has been in the utility business for 100 years, and solar technology’s been available since the late 1970s. So why wasn’t a solar facility developed in Marin County before that?” (Today PG&E is two percentage points shy of meeting its 33 percent by 2020 target for renewable energy. It’s possible that CCAs have pushed the company along.)

Jason Caudle of the ambitiously green-minded Lancaster says his city will pursue the same strategy as MCE for as long as it needs the revenue to operate.

“Look,” he says, “do we want energy from all local renewable resources to sell to our citizens? Absolutely. Should the marketplace expect us to do it in the first year of operation? No. I think all the CCAs will get there. It’s just going to happen over a period of time.”

Freedman hopes Caudle’s right, and that the trend continues. “I do think CCAs are moving in that direction,” he says. “I hope they are.” He encourages consumers to ride herd on the agencies to make sure that they do.

“If you have an entity representing themselves as being extremely green and providing a superior environmental product to their customers, you need to look beyond the top level numbers,” he says. “This game of musical chairs won’t solve our long-term problems.”

Power Struggle: Will Local-Energy Groups Come Clean?

Apple Inc. (AAPL) Launches New Clean Energy Programs in China To Promote Low-Carbon ...

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced two new programs aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of its manufacturing partners in China. The programs will avoid over 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution in the country between now and 2020, equivalent to taking nearly 4 million passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

Apple also announced that construction on 40 megawatts of solar projects in the Sichuan Province is now complete. These solar installations produce more than the total amount of electricity used by Apple’s offices and retail stores in China, making Apple’s operations carbon neutral in China.

“Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for action is now,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The transition to a new green economy requires innovation, ambition and purpose. We believe passionately in leaving the world better than we found it and hope that many other suppliers, partners and other companies join us in this important effort.”

First, Apple is significantly expanding its clean-energy investments in China. Apple plans to build more than 200 megawatts of solar projects in the northern, eastern and southern grid regions of China, which will produce the equivalent of the energy used by more by than 265,000 Chinese homes in a year and will begin to offset the energy used in Apple’s supply chain.

Second, Apple is launching a new initiative to drive its manufacturing partners to become more energy efficient and to use clean energy for their manufacturing operations. Apple will partner with suppliers in China to install more than 2 gigawatts of new clean energy in the coming years.

Apple also will share best practices in procuring clean energy and building high-quality renewable energy projects, and provide hands-on assistance to some suppliers in areas like energy efficiency audits, regulatory guidance and building strong partnerships to bring new clean energy projects to China.

As part of Apple’s industry-leading program, Foxconn will construct 400 megawatts of solar, starting in the Henan Province, by 2018. Foxconn has committed to generate as much clean energy as its Zhengzhou factory consumes in final production of iPhone.

“We are excited to embark on this initiative with Apple. Our companies share a vision for driving sustainability and I hope that this renewable energy project will serve as a catalyst for continued efforts to promote a greener ecosystem in our industry and beyond,” said Terry Gou, founder and CEO of Foxconn Technology Group. “Sustainability is a core pillar in Foxconn’s strategy and we are committed to investing in green manufacturing.”

“Being responsible, protecting air and water, and driving clean energy are at the heart of Apple’s commitment to China,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “These projects go beyond Apple’s operations in China to help our suppliers adopt clean renewable energy.”

Apple has taken significant steps to protect the environment by transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy. Today the company is powering 100 percent of its operations in China and the US, and more than 87 percent of its worldwide operations, with renewable energy. (Original Source)

Apple Inc. (AAPL) Launches New Clean Energy Programs in China To Promote Low-Carbon ...

Recharge Wrap-up: CA signs clean energy bill, Formula E inks more European TV deals

eMotorWerks will integrate its cloud-based JuiceNet smart grid EV charging platform with ClipperCreek chargers. JuiceNet helps manage charging rates and times, allowing customers to charge their vehicles when the grid is less costly and drawing energy from more renewable sources. To start, eMotorWerks will offer JuiceNet capability in ClipperCreek’s HCS-40 and HCS40P charging stations. “Bringing advanced smart grid capabilities to their flagship product line further validates our vision for JuiceNet as a universal platform for managing large, shiftable loads,” says eMotorWerks founder Valery Miftakhov. “eMotorWerks will deliver a top-notch consumer experience, while helping utilities and grid operators save money and make our electric grids more reliable and resilient.” Read more in the press release from eMotorWerks.

Hilton will install EV chargers at more hotels. The company plans to have 50 chargers at its properties by the end of the year, and 100 chargers by the end of 2016. Charging is free to hotel guests. “Our goal is to support our guests in their travels no matter what technology they’re using,” says Hilton Worldwide’s Executive VP for Global Brands, Jim Holthouser. Read more at The Diesel Driver.

Formula E is expanding its television audience in Europe. The electric racing series renewed or inked new contracts with various broadcasters, including markets in Albania, Cyprus and Iceland. “Green energy is gaining more importance each passing day,” says Oskar Thorvaldsson, Head of Sports at 365 Media Iceland. “We are really looking forward to retaining Formula E in our motorsport portfolio and have high hopes it will remain hugely popular with our subscribers.” Formula E says it will announce more TV deals in the coming weeks. Read more from Formula E.

ChargePoint is praising California Governor Jerry Brown for signing the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015. Senate Bill 350 aims to cut the use of petroleum in vehicles by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2030, which will require utilities to invest in renewable energy and EV charging infrastructure. “From utilities to automakers, private corporations to government entities, we all have a role to play in lowering our state’s greenhouse gas emissions,” says ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano. “Encouraging drivers to make the switch to zero-emission electric vehicles is a critical part of that effort, and SB 350 will go a long way to support that transition by increasing access to EV charging stations, including in disadvantaged communities throughout the state.” Read more in the press release below.

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ChargePoint Commends Governor Brown, Legislature on SB 350, Landmark Legislation To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Campbell, Calif. – Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) charging network, joined California Governor Jerry Brown at today’s signing of Senate Bill 350. This landmark legislation is committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through new and expanded policies promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and the electrification of transportation. Romano issued the following statement:

“ChargePoint applauds Governor Jerry Brown, Senate President Pro-Tem Kevin De Leon and the California State Legislature for continuing to expand California’s commitment to cleaner air and a more sustainable future. The passage and signing of SB 350 prove once again that California is the nation’s leader in the fight against climate change, and ChargePoint is proud to have been among those championing this important issue.

“From utilities to automakers, private corporations to government entities, we all have a role to play in lowering our state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Encouraging drivers to make the switch to zero-emission electric vehicles is a critical part of that effort, and SB 350 will go a long way to support that transition by increasing access to EV charging stations, including in disadvantaged communities throughout the state.

“SB 350 is a giant step forward for California and the entire country must follow our lead. As a proud California-born company and an industry leader, ChargePoint looks forward to continuing to work with our elected officials, the California Public Utilities Commission and with stakeholders across the state to implement this ambitious and important state policy”

To meet aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals, SB 350 specifically requires California electric utilities to invest in EV charging infrastructure and support EV adoption in a way that leverages private-sector funding, protects competition and allows consumers choices in equipment and services. ChargePoint has consistently supported Gov. Brown’s commitment to expanding the EV industry in California and legislative efforts to support EV adoption.

Recharge Wrap-up: CA signs clean energy bill, Formula E inks more European TV deals

Obama to keynote 8th clean energy 'summit' in Las Vegas

Presidential spokesman concedes his boss was a ‘little glib’.

Businesses should adapt new strategies just as baseball did, Reid said, noting that Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane figured out how to make smarter, more efficient choices by using an “analytical, evidence-based approach to assemble a baseball team”. “We see this renewed focused on clean energy and energy efficiency as a strong milestone in a journey toward a modern American energy economy that will reap enormous benefits for consumers and businesses alike”.

And he pointed out the inconsistency of those who promote free market solutions, except when those solutions point to renewable energy.

To help drive the decentralization, the Department of Energy “is announcing a new push to deploy innovative distributed energy resources like microgrids [and] rooftop solar with battery storage, and will offer loan guarantees for projects like these”, Obama said. The Blythe Mesa plant is expected to produce enough renewable energy to power more than 145,000 homes. But Obama mistakes the Tea Party trying to affect local change as an endorsement for his energy policies.

Under the new rules, homeowners who adopt renewable energy will be able to do so with no cost upfront and pay back the cost of installation over time through property taxes.

Obama said that the Kochs and other libertarian and conservative groups usually tout themselves as champions of the free market.

On the feisty score, he didn’t waste time saying he was ready for the fall’s legislative battles, noting that he had ridden to the fundraiser with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.

Several private-sector firms also announced commitments to support renewable or energy-efficiency initiatives.

Company Executive Vice President of Energy Services Chris Brooks said those jobs will be temporary construction positions. Everybody’s got to seize the opportunity before us.

During the speech, the President highlighted his Administration’s track record on renewables, mentioned individual states’ efforts, plus some solar power technology and business model developments. “That has the potential to hurt a lot of communities, and set back America’s leadership in fighting climate change“. Basically, if you want to more green energy options for your house, the president wants to make them more available and affordable. And I’m all for consumers saving money because that means they can spend it on other stuff.

In a statement, Koch Industries’ Philip Ellender said the company “supports all forms of energy, but we believe they need to stand on their own merits”. Obama didn’t say, particularly. It’s nearly a moral obligation to become greenhouse gas emissions-free.

And this is all on the heels of the President’s Clean Power Plan, which requires states to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Wind power made up another 20 percent.

There is “a big shift underway that goes beyond simply putting solar panels on your home”, he said in the keynote address.

Obama to keynote 8th clean energy "summit" in Las Vegas

Time is now for NJ to reclaim its status as a leader in clean energy | Opinion

By Jeff Tittel

Never has our energy future been clearer than it is today between clean energy and dirty fossil fuels. The upcoming Energy Master Plan update is important not only for New Jersey’s environment but also New Jersey’s economy. We have a choice between more dirty fossil fuels, pipelines, oil trains and pollution or renewable energy, energy efficiency and a green economy.

The Board of Public Utilities is going to be taking input into updating the 2011 Energy Master Plan. The plan is the guiding document on energy policy in New Jersey. The 2011 plan rolled back important energy goals from the 2008 plan. Now is our chance to reverse these rollbacks and make sure that 30 percent of our energy comes from renewable sources by 2020 rather than the current 22.5 percent. Currently the state does not have an energy efficiency standard. We need to push for a 30 percent reduction in energy use through energy efficiency by 2030. We need to look at the long-term to get rid of dirty fossil fuel sources like closing the state’s three coal power plants. We should have a goal of 80 percent of our energy to come from renewable sources by 2050.

New Jersey was a leader in clean energy and energy efficiency before Gov. Chris Christie took office. We were second in the nation and we’re now seventh. We had 10,000 jobs in solar energy; now 5,500. We were seventh in energy efficiency and are now 21st. We were supposed to be the first state in the nation to have offshore wind. Even though five years ago Gov. Christie signed the Offshore Economic Development Act and the EMP calls for 3,000 megawatts of wind power, the Christie administration has blocked financing rules for offshore wind.

This week Gov. Christie officially pulled us out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. RGGI is a ten-state regional compact to reduce climate change, air pollution and fund clean energy projects. RGGI worked; New Jersey received over $40 million a year and it created over 1,800 jobs. It reduced carbon pollution by 18 million tons. By pulling out of RGGI, The governor was invited to have lunch with the Koch brothers while New Jersey saw a loss in funding and jobs. The New Jersey Sierra Club believes the governor violated the Global Warming Response Act by pulling out of RGGI. The governor has also used over $1.1 billion from the Clean Energy Fund, which helps people save money on their energy bills through weatherization and energy efficiency, to plug holes in the state budget.

While Gov. Christie was pulling us out of RGGI, President Obama released his Clean Power Plan. The EPA’s CPP requires reductions in greenhouse gasses and encourages states to participate in regional compacts like RGGI. The CPP is important because this is the first significant attempt by the United States to reduce greenhouse gasses and combat climate change. The plan sets targets for each state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to promote renewable energy. This will help move our economy into the future, providing green energy jobs. While the CPP calls for a 32 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses nationally, it’s only a modest 23 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 in New Jersey. New Jersey should and could be able to do a lot more than that but Gov. Christie and his administration oppose even those modest goals.

States have two years to comply and if they do not then the federal government will write the plan for them. New Jersey can easily comply because we have the programs and rules in place to meet the CPP’s goals and go beyond. The only thing that’s holding us back is Gov. Christie. Updating the EMP could easily help New Jersey implement President Obama’s CPP. The governor cares more about his national political ambition than he does about the people or environment of New Jersey.

We need to demand action on climate change and these EMP hearings are the first real step to moving us forward on doing so. New Jersey’s energy future should be built on increased solar and wind generation and more energy efficiency. We must demand response programs, green job creation, and a commitment to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. We need to take a page from the president’s Clean Power Plan and tell the BPU to stop promoting dirty fuels and work towards clean energy and reducing climate change by ramping up their Energy Master Plan. These three upcoming EMP hearings are important because we need an EMP with stronger energy goals. This is our chance to go in the right direction and work with the Clean Power Plan to reduce our dependence on dirty fuels and fight climate change.

Jeff Tittel is director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

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Time is now for NJ to reclaim its status as a leader in clean energy | Opinion

As the pope opines on climate change, O'Malley releases a clean energy agenda

Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley announces his intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination during a speech in Baltimore late last month. (Photo by Jim Bourg/Reuters)

As some Catholic candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination question the pope’s advocacy on climate change, Democratic hopeful Martin O’Malley is embracing it.

The former Maryland governor, who is a practicing Catholic, plans to issue a white paper Thursday morning that declares that the United States has a “moral obligation” to address climate change and outlines steps he would take to accelerate a move toward clean energy — including several that build upon Obama administration policies and some that depart from them.

The move from O’Malley comes as he tries to gain a foothold in a Democratic primary contest in which Hillary Rodham Clinton has established herself as a formidable front-runner and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has been making more headway with more liberal voters.

[In Iowa, Sanders, O’Malley stake out liberal ground ahead of Clinton speech]

In his white paper, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, O’Malley argues that a full embrace of clean energy presents the biggest job creation opportunity the country as seen in a century.

Among other initiatives, O’Malley will call for expanding an Obama administration effort to regulate emissions from power plants to include other sources of greenhouse gases, such as cement and fertilizer plans and existing oil and gas wells.

O’Malley, who pushed a series of renewable-energy initiatives as governor, also calls for a halt in issuing new oil and gas drilling permits in Alaska and off the U.S. coasts — a move that runs counter to recent Obama actions — and he says he would end all taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuels while extending production and investment tax credits for sources of renewable energy.

In the paper, O’Malley says he would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt a “zero-tolerance” policy for methane leaks from oil and gas production and that he would reject projects like the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that he says exacerbate climate change.The latter is a veiled jab at Clinton, who has not stated a definitive position on the project.

[Pope Francis blasts global warming deniers in leaked draft of encyclical]

O’Malley’s initiatives come as Pope Francis is expected to formally unveil on Thursday a highly anticipated and controversial papal encyclical on climate change. In recent days, several Catholic candidates in the Republican field, including former Florida governor Jeb Bush, have questioned the pope’s involvement on the issue.

O’Malley’s document references Republican resistance on the issue, saying he would push many of his actions through executive action, starting on “day one,” if elected president.

Some of those actions include retrofitting federal buildings to higher energy-efficiency standards and new requirements for the federal automobile fleet. O’Malley says he would also establish a “Clean Energy Job Corps” with the aim of retrofitting buildings and creating new green spaces across the country.

More broadly, he says in the plan, that he would set a goal to make the country completely powered by clean energy within 35 years.

During his tenure as Maryland governor, O’Malley muscled through legislation to jump-start the state’s offshore wind power industry, pushed several initiatives to expand the use of solar energy and signed legislation adopting tougher vehicle emissions standards.

As the pope opines on climate change, O"Malley releases a clean energy agenda

Spring cleaning: How to clean your house and keep it that way

One of the things most people don’t love about spring or any time of the year is the thought of giving your home a thorough cleaning — inside and out.

It’s just filled with all those major projects that involve seemingly overwhelming tasks like cleaning out closets, deep cleaning room by room, decluttering and more.

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But it doesn’t have to be that way. Experts advise setting a goal and doing something every day or every week until the jobs are done. Don’t worry whether it’s enough to pass the white glove test. What you are going for is an easy, comfortable and non-stressful living space that makes you and your family happy.

Amy Bates, owner of Merry Maids Tulsa Metro, offers the following tips for tackling spring cleaning at your home or apartment.

1 Declutter, donate and toss: Get rid of the clutter that’s taking up space in the home. So donate it or toss it. Or hold a garage sale to get rid of those unwanted items and make a little extra cash in the process. That includes old clothes (if you haven’t worn it in a year, it’s old), old books, broken toys, etc. Spring cleaning is the perfect time to declutter.

2 Go the natural way: Use natural cleaning products rather than harmful chemicals. Stock up on natural cleaning products like vinegar, baking soda, lemons, and tea tree oil. Those are effective and inexpensive.

3 Start top to bottom: Start upstairs and tackle one room at a time. Get that sense of accomplishment by focusing on one room at a time. Stopping and starting to go from one room to the other seems to slow down the process. Or spread your cleaning out over two days. Do the upstairs on day one and the downstairs on day two. It makes the tasks seem much less daunting.

And really clean top to bottom. Don’t forget to dust on top of book shelves and mantels.

4 Use simple cleaning tricks: Faster, more effective cleaning can be accomplished using simple tricks. For example, cleaning windows and mirrors with newspapers instead of paper towels leaves fewer streaks and no paper towel lint. Dryer sheets work great on baseboards. They clean off the dirt and dust and reduce future dust buildup. And have you ever thought of using an extra sticky roller on couches to get rid of pet hair? Try it.

5 Don’t forget the big stuff: Don’t overlook major appliances when you’re doing your spring cleaning. Give them a nice, deep clean. Run baking soda and vinegar in your clothes washer for a clean, fresh scent upon completion. Run vinegar through the dishwasher to get rid of hard water. Wipe down the inside of your refrigerator with a vinegar and water mixture to sanitize and freshen.

6 Get your outdoor spaces ready: You’ll be spending more time outdoors, so wipe down chair handles with a damp cloth and vacuum the dust out of cushions. A quick trick is to put cushions in a trash bag, insert a vacuum hose into the bag, wrap the bag around the hose and turn it on. The suction from the vacuum will flatten the cushion and inhale all dust and pollen. Get those outdoor grills clean and ready, too. And sweep away the cobwebs from the corners of your porch.

7 Organize your closet by color: Organizing your closet is one of the first steps to the rest of your home. Organizing your clothes by color will make your closet look nice and uniform and makes getting dressed in the morning a snap. Your closet will look appealing, and your everyday routine will be easier.

8 Give your carpet a fresh, clean smell: Give it a boost with ½ cup of Borax, ½ cup baking soda and several drops of your favorite essential oil. Sprinkle it on the carpet and let it sit 30 minutes. Then vacuum away. Your carpet and your entire room will have a fresh aroma. And ask people to take their shoes off when entering your home. It will take away from tracking in the outside.

9 Change things up: One way to give your home a fresh feel is to make some simple changes. For an easy makeover, change out your couch or bed pillows to set a different mood. Or place fresh-cut flowers throughout the house. You will instantly feel revitalized in your home.

10 Change those filters: It’s a great idea to use spring cleaning as a time to change all your filters — air filters, water filters, etc. Changing the air filters in your home will cut down on the amount of dust you see on surfaces, and the air will smell fresher.

Rita Sherrow 918-581-8360

rita.sherrow@tulsaworld.com

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Spring cleaning: How to clean your house and keep it that way

Will India Budget for Clean Energy Development, Green Job Creation?

As India’s ambitious clean energy targets continue to capture headlines, the central government has released its 2015 Union Budget. This budget includes the doubling of tax on coal to Rs. 200 ($3.25) per metric ton (which goes to the National Clean Energy Fund to potentially fund clean energy projects) and the development of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). However, some domestic solar and environmental groups expected to see more broad support in the budget for the country’s environmental causes and clean energy goals of developing 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy by 2022, and a 60 GW Wind Mission. With this new budget announced on the heels of RE-Invest 2015, India’s first renewable energy financing summit, the hope is that momentum between industry and government will build to actualize a clean energy future for India, ultimately increasing energy access across the population and creating climate-friendly jobs – over a million of them according to a recent analysis conducted by NRDC and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Huge Employment Opportunities

This interim report analysis illustrates that 1,000,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs would be created if India reaches its solar energy goal of 100 GW by 2022, and another 183,500 FTE jobs would be generated by the wind sector if it reached its 60 GW target. According to NRDC-CEEW estimates, the majority of these clean energy jobs would be in non-technical (semi-skilled and unskilled) roles, providing training opportunities for a growing climate-conscious population and aligning with one of Prime Minister Modi’s government priorities to facilitate job creation. As momentum grows for the solar and wind markets, the message is simple: clean energy production creates jobs.

Looking Ahead

In order to support the enormous job creation potential of India’s 2022 renewable energy development goals, NRDC and CEEW’s report released at RE-Invest last month has three key recommendations:

1. Currently, the full range of economic benefits of employment generated by India’s clean energy industries are largely unknown due to a lack of reporting by solar and wind companies. Solar and wind energy companies in India can match international business practices by reporting a project’s job creation numbers.


2. Availability of job creation numbers can guide policy decisions as the framework is developed for how India will achieve targets through its Solar and Wind Missions. Along with solar parks and large-scale projects, targeted policies could aim to promote distributed generation technologies such as rooftop solar projects which are more labor-intensive and can create more jobs. Government agencies and local companies could also collaborate on skills development to train this growing workforce.


3. Indian government and business leaders can support the enormous job creation potential of its 2022 renewable goals by prioritizing the availability of affordable capital through innovative financing interventions such as green banks and green bonds.

India is primed to scale up the renewable energy sector and reap the benefits of a stronger economy, energy access, and cleaner air, all while helping combat global climate change. With clean energy companies coming forward with commitments totaling 266 GW at RE-Invest, a Union Budget that potentially offers some clean energy support for clean energy through the increased coal cess and infrastructure fund, needed momentum for the solar and wind markets can continue to grow.

Will India Budget for Clean Energy Development, Green Job Creation?

Wave Home Solutions is making waves in clean air and water

However, just because you do not have a say in how your environment is altered, this does not mean that you have to live with the potential consequences that come with all of those dangers.

The air we breathe and the water we drink is much more dangerous than it was 100 years ago. This is not speculation, this is a fact. The increase in the amount of pollutants in the air and water is the direct result of the actions humans are taking on this planet, and those actions are creating challenges for people who want to live long and healthy lives.

Fortunately, there are some companies that recognize the importance of helping people take back some control over the quality of water and air that their family is exposed to on a daily basis. For example, Wave Home Solutions offers all-in-one filtering and ventilation systems. Sadly, many people do not understand just how vital it is for them to take advantage of these options.

The Gasification of Our Water Supply

Hydraulic fracturing, also known more commonly as fracking, has been used for decades to free natural gas from layers of stone and mine so that is can be used to provide heating for homes and businesses. It sounds like a great idea, but there are two problems with fracking that are affecting your water: chemicals and natural gas.

Fracking uses mostly natural materials such as water and sand to release the gas and bring it to the surface. But there are a small percentage of chemicals used in fracking that get into the area’s water table and contaminate the drinking supply. These chemicals are worse than smoking thousands of cigarettes and they are referred to as “Highly Volatile Organic Compounds” or HVOC. Three of the main chemicals in question are Hexane, Trimethylbenzene and Xylene.

Chemicals of this type are not simply utilized in fracking, and an analysis of their other uses makes it difficult to condone putting them in the ground near drinking water. For example, hexane is used to make glue for roofing, leather products and shoes, and inhalation exposure can impact the central nervous system.

Trimethlybenzene exposure can cause a wide variety of health issues such as chronic bronchitis and vomiting, and it is typically used in auto fuel, solvents, wood stain, paint thinner and dyes. California residents cannot even purchase xylene because this adhesive remover is known to cause cancer (California Proposition 65).

All of the chemicals that are used during fracking have come under heightened scrutiny as a result of the fact that contaminated water can apparently be set on fire. Although it is not guaranteed that every fracking well will contaminate the groundwater, it can definitely happen.

In many instances, that groundwater trickles into local rivers and streams, and this causes the local water supply to become completely contaminated. It is possible that known issues such as this one explain legislation that has been passed to keep fracking out of affluent areas.

The other issue with fracking is the natural gas itself. It would be great if all of the gas that was released went directly into convenient storage tanks and was shipped off to heat our homes. Unfortunately, some of the gas escapes into the local water table and contaminates the groundwater, drinking water wells, and other sources of fresh water. When you see the pictures of people setting wells or streams on fire, this is the result of having gases in the water.

While fracking is essential in allowing us to utilize a plentiful resource like natural gas, it also has its challenges. While not every fracking organization and every fracking well contaminates the nearby drinking supply, it happens often enough that it should be a concern for you and your family.

The Realities of Drinking Contaminated H2O

Whether you get your H2O from a private well or the local municipality, it helps to understand the truth behind drinking water before you can appreciate the urgent need for a professional and comprehensive filtration system in your home. It has become standard for communities all over the world to add chlorine to their drinking water. In the United States, this practice is widespread, and the levels of chlorine in American drinking water tend to be higher than most other countries. Chlorine destroys bacteria and pathogens in water, but it has a side effect that can be dangerous to your health

Chlorine combines with naturally occurring elements in drinking water to create a compound called trihalomethanes. There is nothing that can be done to stop the creation of trihalomethanes as they occur naturally, and a high concentration of chlorine in the drinking water means a higher concentration of trihalomethanes as well.

The EPA has been warning people for years that the levels of trihalomethanes in many public drinking water sources are dangerously high and this can lead to liver problems, nervous system issues and even cancer. A European study showed that men who are exposed to trihalomethanes have an increased risk of bladder cancer.

The presence of chlorine in drinking water has also been linked to increased instances of breast cancer in women. The scariest part of it all is that chlorine is absorbed through the skin and from inhalation; you don’t even have to drink it to be exposed to its dangers. This means each time you drink, cook, brush your teeth, bathe or shower, you are absorbing the chlorine into your body. To put it bluntly, your drinking water could be hazardous to your health.

How Can You Protect Your Family’s Water Supply?

Most people would admit that they are unable to directly change the damage that individuals and businesses are having on the environment. There are activist groups fighting lobbyists and a seemingly endless line of bureaucratic challenges, but they can only help prevent some of the problems. However, this does not mean that you have to expose your family to the hazards that are created by others.

Fortunately, there are many innovative companies and individuals who do have the earth’s best interests in mind. For example, Wave Home Solutions focuses on creating products that enable people to protect their family from our rapidly deteriorating environment. It makes sense to fight these issues in your home because this is where most of your exposure to toxic chemicals will occur. Additionally, your home is the only place that you can exert a lot of control over.

What Is The Solution?

To combat the issues with drinking water quality, many people turn to bottled water or smaller filtration systems. While taking these steps shows plenty of initiative in keeping your family healthy, it does not come close to solving the problem of exposing your family to dangerous drinking water.

Bottled water uses plastic as its primary container. While we would all like to believe that most plastic bottles get recycled, the sad truth is they do not. Countries all over the world utilize bottled water, and a large majority of those bottles find their way into landfills and as garbage floating in our fresh water supply.

Filtration systems that attach to your kitchen faucet or come in the form of pitchers you put in your refrigerator only do part of the job. However, you are also exposed to chlorine and other chemicals from every faucet in your home, so focusing solely on your kitchen faucet will not eliminate all of your potential risks.

The problem with your home’s municipal water source is that you are relying on politicians and failed public policy to determine the health of your family. Maximum contaminant levels that are accepted by municipalities do not mean that those levels are healthy; they just mean that bureaucrats can live with that much pollution.

When these maximum levels are exceeded, it is much easier and cost efficient for politicians to simply raise the allowable levels instead of dealing with removing them from the water supply. It can be a helpless feeling, but you can do something about it. Instead of putting your family at the mercy of bureaucrats and politicians who are not enforcing the clean air and water laws that are on the books, you can install a full house water filtration system that will protect your family at all times.

A full house filtration system reduces your carbon footprint by eliminating your use of plastic bottles. It also saves you money by eliminating the need to buy bottled water, and it protects your family by making certain that all of your home’s water is clean. There are a number of makers out there that have the products to help you get the clean water you need to protect the health of the ones you love, irrespective of your water supply. These companies have solutions for city and well water that won’t break the bank.

Clean Air Is Another Challenge

When it comes to the issues of clean air and clean water, people appear to be equally as concerned about both. It is good that people want to address the problems that come with our polluted environment, but as with the solutions that most people use to address the issue of polluted water, the manner in which many people attempt to get clean air in their homes also falls short.

What If You Do Nothing?

The important thing to understand about being healthy is that the conditions that have been created throughout the world make it difficult to achieve this goal without being proactive. A large majority of people will take the time to change the filters in their furnaces and central air conditioning units, and there are many who will invest in a single air filter for their bedroom. But the reality is that, given the conditions of the air you breathe, these simple solutions are not enough.

If you do not actively work to clean up the air in your home, you are creating a breeding area for bacteria and disease. Stagnant, moist air that is not properly conditioned is the perfect growing conditions for mold, dust mites, and insects that bring disease. If you do nothing about the air in your home, you are exposing your family to a variety of potential hazards. Radon gas, which can seep into your basement through the foundation, gases produced by combustible appliances, carbon monoxide and toxic vapors from cleaning materials are all everyday sources of indoor air pollution that can’t be ignored.

Natural Moisture Is Also a Problem

It is not always the man-made issues that pose threats to your home as naturally occurring conditions can also be a hazard. There is moisture that naturally occurs in your home. It is most prevalent in the basement crawl spaces and attic areas where the air is usually stagnant and thick with moisture. This moisture is the breeding ground for mold, which can lead to asthma and other respiratory ailments.

The World Health Organization estimates that three out of every four people who live in a naturally damp environment are at greater risk for asthma and other respiratory ailments. The worst part is that the air in your home rises from that contaminated basement and crawl space into your living areas, bringing with it mold spores, odors, gases and pollutants.

If this air is not addressed in some way, the moisture will not only affect your health but it will also degrade the structural integrity of the home by causing wood rot, condensation and rust. After a few years, the damage can even be visible with your floor board’s windows, beams and foundation walls.

Ventilation and Air Circulation

Organizations such as the American Lung Association and the EPA all acknowledge that stagnant, moist and unfiltered air can create a situation where diseases are more prevalent. We have expended a lot of attention to tightening up our homes for energy efficiencies but are paying a steeper price by keeping them indoors and breathing them in constantly.

So what are people trying to do to solve these problems? It would be nice to open a window and let the fresh air clean out the atmosphere inside a home, but that is impractical in the winter, during the summer with periods of high humidity and during rainy days. That is why most people turn to other air circulation and treatment solutions.

One of the most popular solutions used to try to combat moisture in the air is to install a dehumidifier in the moist areas of the house. While this can remove some of the moisture, it does not solve the problem of airborne bacteria, gases, pollutants and other environmental issues.

A dehumidifier simply recirculates the same stagnant air that was in the room to begin with. It will remove a portion of the moisture, but it does not address the other issues, and it still leaves a stale, musty odor. Dehumidifiers can also be noisy and difficult to use, and many of them only last a short while before they need to be replaced. Additionally, dehumidifiers are energy guzzlers, and most people are not aware of the actual cost of running them. They consume so much energy that you can spend more than $70 a month just in energy bills to keep them running.

Another problem is the tremendous amount of maintenance those units require. Dehumidifiers have to be emptied repeatedly or you have to build a drain area for them to discharge the water. If you don’t empty the water, they become a breeding ground for bacteria.

Air filtration systems need to have their filters emptied. If the filter clogs up, you are no longer getting the positive effects of the filtration unit, and it is essentially just wasting energy as it runs. There are better solutions and ways for you to get the comprehensive protection you need for your family without having to go through all of the steps required by inadequate water and air treatment and filtration systems.

The Solution Is A System That Protects Your Whole Home

Just like the solution to your clean water issues is a comprehensive filtration system that perpetually cleans the water in your entire home, the solution to your indoor air quality issues is a system that addresses the most problematic air mass and by doing so benefiting the entire house. It is also important to use a solution that keeps its energy usage down so that your energy bills will be as low as possible.

There are many reputable companies that offer complete home systems that filter water and air to make them safer for your home. Recognizable names such as Culligan and Pelican have systems that remove many of the contaminants that are found in drinking water, while Lennox can offer you a solution to filter your air.

The problem is that these companies often do not offer solutions for both, and they do not focus on the operational costs of their systems. WAVE Home Solutions offers comprehensive whole house solutions, and there is a significant focus on making sure that utilizing WAVE products does not put a huge dent in your energy bills.

Continuous Mechanical Ventilation

Instead of recirculating bad air inside your home, a WAVE Ventilation system will expel bad, moist air as well as the pollutants and gases that naturally build up. All of these unwanted elements are then expelled in their entirety out of the house to keep clean air flowing throughout your home.

The WAVE systems also have sensors that will keep a close eye on the level of moisture throughout your home, and they automatically adjust the rate of ventilation to make sure that those levels are always safe and conducive to good health and home maintenance.

The WAVE Ventilation system is easily installed in a basement, crawl space or on the ground level of a slab home, and it expels the moist, polluted air directly to the outside. It then continuously brings down the drier, healthier air from upstairs through a vent to prevent any stagnation.

This process is called continuous mechanical ventilation, and it is one of the elements of a Wave system that makes it unique in the air treatment industry. ASHRAE, which is the technical body that develops and maintains ventilation standards for the United States, recommends whole house air exchange throughout the day in order to maintain healthy living conditions.

A WAVE Ventilation system can create 6 to ten whole house air exchanges a day. That means that you actually can bring in the fresher air from outside into your home, replenishing the entire house, several times a day.

Energy Efficiency Is a Part of the Process

The U.S. Department of Energy conducted a study that compared continuous mechanical ventilation to the natural circulation processes in crawl spaces. They also took a look at how continuous mechanical ventilation affects the entire cost of running the heating and cooling systems for the whole house, and the results were very interesting.

It requires more energy to heat or cool moist air than it does drier air. In a controlled particular study, the Department of Energy found that mechanical exhaust and replenishment systems like the WAVE system lowered the overall energy costs of the HVAC systems around 17 percent and were effective in keeping the relative humidity at 60 percent.

This does not take into account the cost savings of utilizing a single, energy-efficient unit versus scattering dehumidifiers throughout your home. While that particular study did not analyze the positive results of expelling contaminants, these systems have been independently tested to reduce radon, although it is not promoted as a radon mitigation device. The end result is that it is much more energy efficient to use the Wave system than any other type of air dehumidification system available.

Look Into A WAVE Solution

Phil Konigsberg, the president of WAVE Home Solutions stated, “People don’t always pay attention to the fact that certain ailments they have may be due to their indoor everyday environment. It is extremely important to make sure that the two most important things we need to live, air and water, are contributing to our well-being, not detracting from it.” It makes a lot of sense to take pride in the care of your home and family, and part of that care is being proactive in creating a clean living environment.

The WAVE Ventilation solution requires no maintenance, and to be fair, there are many competing solutions and technologies on the market. But, of utmost importance, you will be creating a safe environment for you and your children and have confidence in the food you feed them and the water they drink and use to bathe themselves Do your research and make calls. Talk to contractors in your local area. Read up on the issues with deteriorating quality of our indoor water and air. Know the background of city water in your area.

You can choose to ignore the fact that your air and water are not clean or the healthiest they can be or you can take action and talk to a professional organization about putting an end to unclean air and polluted water. You may not be able to tell a multi-billion dollar corporation to follow the environmental safety laws, but you can affect what happens in your own home. With a WAVE Home or competing system you can determine how healthy your family will be, regardless of what the rest of the world may be doing to the environment.

Wave Home Solutions is making waves in clean air and water