BDPollution

Day one

A two day training session, 15th and 16th of February 2010 organized by GTZ started of with a sleepy morning. I reached GTZ office at 9:10 hoping I arrived in time. The training was supposed to start at 9am,knowing Bangladesh time, the training started at 9:25am with the opening done by Elke Shrestha, Senior Business Advocate,GTZ. Soon after Mike Birks, Team Leader, ESIP project began the training.

Anyways more about the training. Basically GTZ Bangladesh and couple RMG industries in Bangladesh worked together with local and foreign consultants to become more energy efficient over a period of couple of months. So engineers from these RMG industries are been trained to make their industries more energy efficient. I was lucky as I got in as a Trainee for Faruq M&E Consultants. Its interesting, the methods used for energy efficiencies in industries are actually quite simply and the benefits are quite noticeable. The energy savings are quite remarkable. I thought I would be out of my league, dazed and confused about the training and would not understand anything. To tell you the truth, over my years of blogging and reading on different technologies and a 4th year Electrical undergrad, I seemed quite in tune with the real world engineering problems.

So far today’s training 15th was good but tomorrow is going to be a bit difficult cause tomorrow is going to be the technical sessions. Anyways Ciao!

Day Two: Tuesday 16/2/2010

The second day was completely a technical session. Professors from BUET went through some of the basics in lighting and power factor correction. Mr. Birks on the other hand went to the details of various problems associated with the RMG sector in Bangladesh and how simple fixes could solve problems saving a lot of money and good pay-back period even if investments are made.

Overall I felt that the training was good but there was some discrepancies between the practical engineers and the theorists from BUET, something neither side would agree on.

As I was browsing through an article on Jaguar creating a turbine-based hybrid,I noticed one of the most shocking headline ” Ferarri is bringing the hybrid in Genava Motor Show“, I was like WTF?

For some time there were rumors that Ferarri will be coming out with a hybrid(I did not hear any rumors btw) and they seem to have confirmed it while the presentation of this year’s F10 Formula One Car. I seriously did not expect this to happen at least not yet. The reason being that Ferarri represents automotive engineering at its best. The innovations used in Ferarri cars are based from the extensive research they put into their F1 cars and these innovations are like the top of anything. These innovations are slowly integrated into road cars nowadays.

The car is based on the Ferarri 599 GTB Fiorano and will be gas-electric powered with the motor at the rear and a V12 at the front. The electric motor will be mounted at the rear transaxle and lithium-ion battery pack for optimal performance. The car will have the KERS (Kinetic energy recovery system) system, a technology introduced in F1 last season. To find the other details we have to wait till March at the Geneva Motor Show.

With the introduction of Ferarri in the hybrid sector, things in the hybrid industry will change forever.

The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) announced the names of the top 10 green energy dependent companies in the States. When I came across the article, I was told it would be a shock considering the companies present. The list comes from the fact that the Green Power Partners program increased their commitments more than 1.5 billion kilowatts-hours(KWh) in 2009. Being an electrical student, that’s a lot of energy.

The program partners are buying 18 billion KWh that putting in comparison to the annual CO2 emissions from electricity usage of about 1.8 million Americans.

The top 10 green energy partners in 2009 were:

1. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) – 51% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (1.4 billion KWh come from green power).

2. Kohl’s Department Store (NYSE:KSS) – 100% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (1.3 billion KWh come from green power).

3. Pepsi Co. (NYSE:PEP) – 100% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (1.2 billion KWh come from green power).

4. Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFMI) – 105% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (790 million KWh come from green power).

5. City of Houston Texas – 34% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (438 million KWh come from green power).

6. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) – 129% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (431 million KWh come from green power).

7. The Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE:PBG) – 100% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (426 million KWh come from green power).

8. Cisco Systems ( NASDAQ:CSCO) – 46% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (400 million KWh come from green power).

9. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – 40% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (400 million KWh come from green power).

10. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) – 34% of its total electricity comes from clean energy sources (386 million KWh come from green power).

Courtesy: ENERGYBOOM

So far China has shown the the world what they are capable off but it does not get over there. For the past two years they have shown great development in the field of renewable energy surpassing countries like Denmark, Germany, Spain and the US. They are now the world’s largest wind turbine maker followed by the world’s largest solar panel maker. This will just boom China’s economy further but it will benefit their economy more than it will do to the environment.

The Davos World Summit ended will talks ending with the slight ray of hope of countries to come up with deals to sustain climate change. There has been some big issues over the last few days with governments still not showing any interest to the Copenhagen Accord, I think the most disappointing document whether created where the world waited for a REAL DEAL! Well we cannot dwell on the past but have to look ahead.

I was going through the December issue of Top Gear and found Jeremy Clarkson’s article on hybrids to be kind of true. Now we all know that Top Gear hates green cars or anything to do with the environment. However over the last two or three seasons there were actually praising green cars such as the Honda FCX Clarity and the Telsa Sports car but this article is different.

I believe that what he mentioned was true, that hybrids are a quite fix and it will not solve the problem. Going through the article also made my realize whether all these car companies introducing green cars are actually saving the environment or creating a similar catalytic converter mentioned by JC for the future, a short fix but some 30-40 years down the line, you end up having the same problem but in a different scenario. So what will you be doing now with the Detroit Auto Show showcasing the future of green cars, will you be buying green cars? Honestly thinking about this is really putting me in a difficult position.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken one of the largest initiatives by giving major contracts to energy companies to erect thousands of wind turbines along the British coastline of around 7,500 miles.

The total investment of the project is to be likely $120 billion. Get to know more about here.

On December 6th 2009, DHS Motors Ltd., the local dealership of Honda Motor Cars in Bangladesh have unveiled the Honda Civic Hybrid. I did a review about it some two years back. Anyways let me give a heads up again. The car has a 1.3 litre three-stage i-VTEC engine with integrated motor assist (IMA system) which uses a petrol engine as the primary engine.

The car has some nice nifty features. I drove the 2006 Japanese Honda Civic although it was the 1.8 litre petrol engine, the hybrid is based on that model. The Honda Civic is a very good car overall. Its a very fun car to drive, the ride height of the car is perfect and for some reason, the car wants you to drive it, it just appeals to you. If you are a passenger, its comfortable for long drives, good suspension, you do not notice the bumps and for Bangladesh roads its good.

So far DHS Motors have brought 10 hybrids and are planning to bring more of it. It is cheaper than the standard Honda Civic and DHS Motors will provide after sales service.

China, the world’s largest greenhouse emitter has signed a deal with eSolar Inc. to invest in solar power plants. China has overtaken US as the largest emitter in CO2 and China has pledged that they intend to reduce their emissions.

Solar thermal power farms will generate a capacity of 2000MW. This is a great effort by China as they are still considered as a developing economy so they do not have to agree with global bindings to reduce CO2 emissions. But since they have surpassed US, this project will be many more of green projects to come from China.

In the effort to promote greener initiatives in Bangladesh, the Prime Minister’s office installed a solar power system, the first of its kind in the country. In Bangladesh, the solar industry is basically used in rural regions as electricity is not supplied at those regions due to lack of infrastructure , solar energy is the most feasible option.

Currently it is used on trail basis and has a generating capacity of 21.6 kilowatts. Bangladesh is in the list of most vulnerable countries due to climate change and the government is trying to promote greener solutions.

After allocating Tk.200 crore for low cost revolving fund for greener projects, the Bangladesh Bank has also decided to power their headquarters with solar energy.

The system installed at the Prime Minister’s office is done by a private company Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd(RRE). I will do a post on RRE soon.

“Portland Fashion Week is the world’s only comprehensive eco-sustainable production of a fashion week featuring both independent and eco-culture urban-casual, street and activewear from all over North America and internationally.” This is what Portland Fashion Week (PFW) states about themselves. Time to get to know a bit more.

PSW vision basically focuses on eco-responsible fashion and their objective is to draw as many people through Art, Commerce and Sustainability. The last fashion week was held on October 7-11 2009 bringing in the Spring/Summer 2010 collections. They actually have made a quite a move to sustainability as I seen from their media kit. Most of the paper supplied are made from recycled paper( nothing new about that but still), food being served on corn cups, eco-friendly products being used. An overall green production. Portland is honored as “The Country’s No. 1 Sustainable city.” PFW is quite old with its inception in 2003, the second longest running fashion week on the West Coast.