Environmental groups and public health advocates were stunned last week when President Obama announced he would not fulfill his promise to revise smog regulations. The American Lung Association (ALA) responded with its own promise to resume a lawsuit against the administration for failing to regulate dangerous ozone at levels recommended five years ago by researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In accord with federal mandates, EPA must review regulations on ground-level ozone (the primary component of smog) every five years and enforce new standards based on current scientific findings. The standards have been stalled at 84 parts per billion (ppb) since 1997, in part because the Bush administration disregarded a 2006 EPA review that recommended standards of 60 to 70 ppb. Bush instead proposed standards of 75 ppb, prompting the ALA to mount a lawsuit to force the administration to adhere to EPA’s scientific recommendation.

ALA dropped its litigation in 2009, when Obama’s EPA promised better standards. EPA repeatedly delayed making its final rule amid increasing pressure from industry lobbyists and Republican leaders, who argued the measure would be too expensive for the coatings industry, utilities, oil and coal companies, and the manufacturing sector. EPA finally issued a statement last week deferring the final rule until 2013—after Obama’s first term as president ends. In the statement, Obama claimed that since the rule would be reviewed again in 2013 “I did not support asking state and local governments to begin implementing a new standard that will soon be reconsidered.”

Critics have questioned the logic of this move, since it usually takes years after review for a final rule to be implemented. “The American Lung Association now intends to revive its participation in litigation with the Administration,” said ALA chief executive Charles D. Connor in a press release. Smog is linked to asthma and other respiratory diseases as well as premature deaths caused by long-term exposure.

For more information:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

 

Solyndra is the second U.S. solar panel manufacturer to file for bankruptcy in a matter of weeks, following on Evergreen Solar’s filing earlier in the same month (see “Evergreen Solar Files for Bankruptcy,” EBN Aug. 2011). Solyndra, based in California, offered a unique technology—panels made up of glass tubes filled with copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film designed to capture more light in low-light conditions.

The six-year-old company filed for bankruptcy on August 31, 2011, laying off 1,100 employees and sparking a flurry of controversy and accusations of favoritism by the Obama administration surrounding a half-billion-dollar, government-backed loan received by Solyndra in 2009. While the Government Accountability Office has suggested that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has treated companies vying for government-backed energy loans inconsistently, accusations of favoritism have not been substantiated. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has an ongoing investigation into the way that DOE administered the loan guarantee program.

As with Evergreen and other domestic solar manufacturers, the likely cause of Solyndra’s collapse is the changing economics of the solar market. Even at the time of the company’s launch, analysts questioned whether the tube technology’s purported efficiency advantages could make up for its higher manufacturing cost. Since then, foreign manufacturers, largely based in China, have driven the cost of solar panels down, while a stumbling global economy has reduced demand. Solyndra’s unique technology offered little advantage in a market flooded with cheaper panels from overseas.

Solyndra’s bankruptcy casts a dark shadow on other domestic solar panel manufacturers, raising questions about the industry’s future. The companies’ failure caught many off guard, including employees, who reportedly arrived at work to find the plant shut down. Unless demand picks up soon, other U.S. manufacturers may face a similar fate.

By Paula MeltonLEED rating systems for new construction have been criticized—and even sued—for not requiring that buildings meet energy performance goals after occupants move in. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has responded by encouraging energy tracking and expanding its data collection programs; more recently, it has joined the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as an organizational stakeholder in hopes of promoting market-based building performance transparency.

GRI provides a framework to help standardize comprehensive sustainability reporting for companies and governments, and USGBC’s participation is aimed at improving the tools used to report on building performance. “Building performance metrics and reporting are crucial to our movement,” said Scott Horst, senior vice president for LEED, in a press release. “Data collection and reporting allow us to optimize the performance of our buildings in a transparent and teachable way.”

USGBC did not indicate any direct impact on the LEED rating systems or their users.

By Paula MeltonAccurately benchmarking and reporting the energy performance of buildings is a notoriously difficult task, but policymakers looking to enact a climate change mitigation policy often begin by eyeing the buildings in their jurisdictions. A new guide from the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) attempts to make it easier for governments to write and enforce fair and effective building benchmarking regulations.

Drawing on best practices from national, state, and local governments that require building rating and disclosure, the guide identifies key barriers to implementing a building rating policy—including tenant confidentiality, data reliability, and the inherent difficulty of comparing one mixed-use building with another. The guide also presents possible solutions for each obstacle along with case studies of cities and states that already have policies in place.

Although IMT argues that building rating policies are essential, the guide also points out that transparency does not in itself reduce energy use; a comprehensive policy would also require that building owners cut their consumption. For the complete guide, visit www.buildingrating.org.

By Evan DickThe inspector general for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Arthur Elkins, Jr., has issued a report finding that the agency’s Voluntary Children’s Chemical Evaluation Program did not protect children from exposure to harmful chemicals. The program, initiated under the Clinton administration and slowly dismantled in recent years, relied on voluntary reporting by industry.

Elkins points out that even if industry had cooperated in reporting chemicals present in consumer goods that could harm children, some well-known chemicals of concern such as bisphenol-A (BPA) have been left out of the piloting phase of the programs development, further weakening it.

“EPA has not demonstrated that it can achieve children’s health goals with a voluntary program,” he wrote, adding that EPA still “lacks an active children-specific chemical management program or framework.” The report outlines a significant failure on the part of EPA to protect children from harmful chemicals in consumer products, and calls for more aggressive, non-voluntary regulatory measures.

By Evan DickScientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have successfully developed a new method for generating electricity from waste heat. The technology, which scientists believe could achieve efficiencies of 10% –30%, relies on pyroelectricity—the capacity of certain materials to generate temporary voltage when heated or cooled.

In this device, a pyroelectric polymer is sandwiched between two electrodes. One electrode is attached to the heat source, while the other is suspended. Electricity is generated as the polymer warms and cools as heat passes through the device.

Applications for this device—which measures only a few millimeters long—may be found in cooling and powering laptops or in converting solar heat absorbed by photovoltaic solar panels, but not used by them.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory estimates that 55% of all the energy generated in the U.S. in 2009 was lost to waste heat, suggesting that a much wider range of applications is possible. Previous efforts to produce power from waste heat have achieved only 2% efficiency.

By Evan DickA new report assessing the current state of eight major power generation technologies projects a move away from coal as its costs rise in the next 20 years due to high carbon emissions.

Natural gas is projected to be the cheapest energy source in the report from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), based largely on its availability through newly cost-effective extraction technology from North American shale. Costs for nuclear will remain steady, EPRI predicts, while the price of biomass, solar, and wind are expected to come down slightly.

The authors used a model to compare the costs of different generation technologies, an approach that allowed them to take carbon taxes into account as well as startup and operational costs, which vary greatly between generation methods.

The report does not take into account the costs and environmental degradation associated with fossil fuel extraction, especially the with regard to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, used in natural gas extraction. For the full report, visit www.epri.com.

By Paula MeltonThe University of California–Davis has opened its West Village development, which aims to be the largest net-zero-energy community in the country. The project will eventually cover 200 acres and include apartments for 850 students, 343 single-family homes for faculty and staff, and retail, recreation, and education centers.

A 4 MW photovoltaic system, including rooftop installations and canopies over parking areas, will power the apartments and retail centers.

Single-family homes will be available for purchase starting in 2012. The homes are expected to be popular; the university views them as a recruiting and retention tool for full-time faculty and staff, according to a spokeswoman.

Publicity for the West Village development has downplayed LEED certification, but the spokeswoman told

EBN the West Village was pursuing LEED Platinum certification for its buildings in addition to the development-wide net-zero goal.

By Evan DickA long-delayed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report warns that rising sea levels and extreme weather caused by climate change may cause a 40%–45% increase within the next 90 years of U.S. land area vulnerable to flooding.

Expanding floodplains will endanger millions of existing properties not formerly vulnerable to flooding and increase pressure on FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which already holds 5.6 million policies protecting property worth $1.2 trillion.

The report, which is to be released later in 2011 but has already received coverage in the

New York Times, warns that flood insurance premiums could rise by as much as 70% by 2100 and that further new development in coastal cities is extremely risky.

Insurance companies have long understood that rising population in flood-prone areas increases the cost of damage caused by floods. According to this report, insurers will now have to contend with both continued population increases in floodplains and the expansion of floodplains to encompass greater populations.

 

 

By Evan DickWith millions of tons of used electronics going to landfills every year, electronic waste, or “e-waste,” is the fastest-growing waste stream in the U.S. When disposed of improperly, it is far more hazardous than most other trash, with toxic heavy metals and flame retardants that can leach into groundwater.

A federal interagency task force is attempting to address these issues with a strategy designed to increase the environmental sustainability of the entire life cycle of electronic devices. Key recommendations of the “National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship,” released in July 2011, include offering incentive programs for the development of more efficient electronic products; instructing government agencies to buy, use, reuse, and recycle electronics responsibly; and creating more recycling options for consumers.

The strategy also recommends an increase in stewardship in developing countries, where many used electronic devices are sold cheaply. These electronics are often recycled by people living in or near dumps and working as scavengers, collecting and breaking down electronics into recyclable components.

According to the interagency task force, the strategy will not only protect public health and the environment but will also create new jobs in electronics recycling. For more information, see www.epa.gov/electronicsstrategy.