Letter from the Manager
Orlando-area pilot fuels jet with vegetable oil
Solar Venture Will Draw On Molten Salt
Workers Get Incentives to Live Greener
Solar Today

Letter from the Manager

A welcome summertime to you all!

Seems that many of our friends and customers are a bit bummed by all the extremes out there these days. By that I mean extremely high fuel costs, extremely low real estate values, and an extremely long political season.

I feel this is a time for a “cod-liver oil mentality”. The pain we endure now will really help us for the rest of our lives.

We are finally seeing the beginning of the end of petroleum dominance and hopefully power for both home and transportation in the future will be of a more variegated offering that allows choice.

Daniel Yergin, “Oil has reached a turning point”(Financial Times 5-28-08) writes that,”Oil is losing its almost total domination in ground transport. It is not going to fade away soon…But it will share the transport market with other sources as never before.”

Home power possibilities such as Solar water(Solar thermal) and Solar electric(Photovoltaic power) are here now if you wish to take advantage of them often with the help of the government.-see DSIRE

Instead of being down we should all have an inner smile that the changes high oil now is causing will benefit us all greatly as we age and see our children take over.

Our Green Topics articles this edition focus partly on the alternative energy possibilities for the future mentioned above. “Orlando-area pilot fuels jet with vegetable oil” speaks of a very important(given the near bankruptcy condition of most major airlines) attempt to fuel jet travel via bio-fuels.“Solar Venture Will Draw On Molten Salt” is about a unique attempt by two USA industrial companies to change a bit the way solar electric is approached.

“Workers get incentives to live greener” is about some companies rewarding employees that take a more sustainable look at their lifestyle.

“Finding the Phantoms: Eliminate Standby Energy loss” is about the small standby wattage draw many appliances have and how they can add to your utility bill.

Green Topics is an attempt for us to offer you reprints of articles pertinent to our cause that you might not see in your normal reading. An archive of past Green Topics is available. We will say that we may or may not agree with all the views and expressions of the writers of these articles but we find the discussion useful.

Thanks for reading and for your continued support of Conserv-A-store,
Porter
General Manager

Orlando-area pilot fuels jet with vegetable oil

Amy C. Rippel
Orlando Sentinel
 May 15, 2008

Last year, Doug Rodante took a first-of-its-kind flight in a jet plane.

The plane was powered by a vegetable oil-based fuel -- it smelled like French fries. This year, he hopes to top his record (and maybe whet his appetite) by making that biofuel-powered flight across the country, and then around the world.

Rodante, a former Orlando Apopka Airport Association president, said he is working to use "green" fuels in airplanes to help cut back on greenhouse gases. He started a company called Green Flight International to bring attention to the need for alternative fuels.

In October, Rodante and Nevada-based Biodiesel Solutions teamed up to make the first jet flight using 100 percent biofuel. Rodante and his co-pilot Carol Sugars of Longwood flew a 100-mile perimeter around Reno, Nev., for 37 minutes.

While other companies are using environmentally sound fuels to replace a percentage of petroleum fuels, including a recent Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet flight that used a percentage of biofuel to travel from London to Amsterdam, Rodante's trip was the first jet flight to use 100 percent biofuel.

Biofuel can be made from a variety of "green" ingredients, including animal fats and algae. In this case, it was restaurant cooking oil.

"It was a lot of work. We were constantly documenting our test data," Rodante, 41, said. "We had a very extensive documentation process in order to make sure everything was running as it should."

The test flights Oct. 2 started with 100 percent jet fuel. As the test went on, the team kept adding more biofuel until the craft was running only on vegetable-oil fuel, he said. But this flight started long before that.

Rodante, a real-estate investor, said he got his pilot's license about a decade ago so he could visit his daughter, who had moved to a remote part of the country. Through the years, he has flown on several relief missions, including flying aid to New Orleans after Rodante recently stepped down as president of the airport association because it was taking up too much of his time, he said. Rodante said he is financing the biofuel project.

In 2006, the Mount Dora resident, who has always had an interest in ecological preservation, formed Green Flight International.

Last year, he teamed up with Biodiesel Solutions, which makes equipment that produces biofuel, to serve as Green Flight's fuel sponsor.

Rodante bought a 1968 Czech-built jet for the test flight because it's known to have an engine that can run on several types of fuel.

The biggest concern during the test flight was making sure the fuel would stay warm because biofuel could freeze. The jet, called BioJet I, has fuel heaters in the tanks that warmed the fuel as the plane flew to 17,000 feet, he said.

"We proved even as we ascended the fuel got warmer and warmer," he said. "There wasn't any danger [of the fuel turning into gel]."

Across the country, many companies are making biofuels and finding applications on the ground and in the air. Most, if not all, are using a mixture of biofuel and petroleum-based fuel. A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 flight made headlines in February when it used a mixture of vegetable oils in one of its four engines.

Locally, the perceived advantages of using biofuels are a mixed bag.

Orlando International Airport uses biofuels but not in planes. The fuels are used in maintenance vehicles and equipment, said airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell. She said the airport is neither losing nor making money on using biofuel. Officials at Orlando Sanford International Airport said it isn't worth their time yet.

"Right now, the technology and availability is not enough to entice us to try it," said Orlando Sanford airport president Larry Dale.

This month, Green Skies Inc., an aviation environmental consulting and event-management company in Maitland, will put on a "green aviation conference" in Orlando at which hundreds of people are expected to discuss biofuel applications in aviation.

Michael Miller, Green Skies founder, said within a few years biofuel will become mainstream. Florida could be poised to become a hub for biofuel technology and advancements, he said.

"It's in its infancy, but as long as oil stays at $100 a barrel, this is a massive opportunity and a great chance for Florida to become a hub," he said. "It's going to happen in years and, as long as [oil] stays at this price, it may be months, not years."

But even the timetable for getting biofuel readily available is up for debate.

David Norvell, energy manager for University of Central Florida's Center for Energy and Sustainability, said UCF is running some of its fleet vehicles on a biofuel mixture. But the research has decades to go, despite worldwide efforts. "It's depressing. I wish it was faster."

For Rodante, the recognition that biofuel is a viable option in some small jets may come in June, when he plans to fly his Czech jet cross-country using 100 percent biofuel. He is awaiting flight clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Eventually, he wants to fly the plane around the country solely on biofuel. It will be a huge undertaking.

"I think this planet has some very serious issues that we're not facing," he said. "I think there needs to be more of a significant focus on solving and dealing with the problem. We need to get off our hands and make some changes."

Solar Venture Will Draw On Molten Salt
The Wall Street Journal
By: J Lynn Lunsford

Windsor Locks, Conn. – United Technologies Corp’s Hamilton Sunstrand unit, more commonly known as a major supplier of components for the aerospace industry, believes it can draw on lessons learned from a 25-year old science project to help change the way electric power is generated.

Hamilton Sundstrand is scheduled to announce today that it has teamed with US Renewables Group to commercialize a new type of solar-power plant that will use molten salt to store the sun’s heat so it can be converted to electrical power even when the sun isn’t shining. Company officials say rising fossil-fuel prices have made it possible for such plants to be competitive, particularly for generating electricity during periods of peak demand when utility companies pay premium prices. US Renewables Group is a $575 million private-equity firm that specializes in renewable-power and clean-fuel projects.

Equipment in the next 15 years.

The Solar-power business is the latest in a string of developments for a United Technologies unit that rarely receives attention when compared with its big-name corporate siblings such as Otis (elevators), Carrier (air conditioning) and Pratt & Whitney (jet engines). Although Hamilton Sundstrand generates about one-third the revenue of Otis or Carrier, it has chalked up some big wins on important airplane programs that have helped it become one of the leading names in aerospace.

Hamilton Sundstrand got a boost when it won contracts for a majority of specialized systems on Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner, upsetting previously dominant rivals such as Honeywell International Inc. Hamilton’s equipment content on the 787 alone totals about $2.5 million per airplane, with orders for 790 planes on the books.

The company also won key roles in providing equipment for European Aeronautics Defence & Space Co.’s Airbus A380 and A400M and for Embraer Empresa Brasilerias de Aeronautica SA’s ERJ 170 and 190 regional jets. It supplies systems for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Orion crew vehicle being developed for the planned return of astronauts to the moon.

Hamilton Sundstrand officials say the solar-powered business will be managed through a new entity called Solar Reserve, which will hold the exclusive license to market and operate utility scale solar powered plants worldwide. Under the agreement with US Renewable Group Hamilton Sundstrand’s Rocketdyne segment will provide heat resistant pumps and other equipment, as well as the expertise in handling and storing salt that has been heated to more than 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit. The company says plants using this method will be able to generate as much as 500 megawatts of peak power or run continuously at 50 megawatts. One megawatt is enough power to supply about 1,000 U.S. households.
“Due to the unique ability of the product to store the energy it captures, this system will function like a conventional hydroelectric power plant, but with several advantages,” said Lee Bailey, managing director of US Renewables Group. “This product is more predictable than water reserves, the supply is the free and inexhaustible, and the environmental impact is essentially zero.”

Mr Bailey said US Renewables has invested in geothermal, biomass and other environmentally friendly power projects, but it hadn’t found an appropriate solar technology until it learned of Rockeydyne’s method of using molten salt to hold heat. According to the company, molten salt loses only about 1% of its heat during a day, making it possible to store energy for long periods of time. The salt is a mixture of sodium and potassium nitrate.

The solar-plant technology was first demonstrated by Rocketdyne in the 1980’s using the sun’s heat to convert water into steam to drive generators. In 1994, the project was modified to include the use of molten salt for energy storage. In such a system, the molten salt is pumped through a tower, where it is heated by the sun’s rays. The salt is then stores in insulated containers until it is needed. It is then used to convert water into steam that drives turbines that generate electricity.

The solar demonstration projected was decommissioned in 1999.
United Technologies bought the Rocketdyne business from the Boeing for $700 million in 2005 and split up the unit’s businesses among Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Sundstrand.

While it might be promising for some areas, so-called concentrated solar-power stations will likely represent only a small part of the world’s power generation needs. They are most suited for regions that have a combination of predominately sunny climate and large open spaces that can handle the 1,200-acre field of mirrors, called heliostats, needed to reflect the sun’s energy to a 600-foot tower the houses the receiver for collecting the sun’s energy. Ideal locations include the U.S. Southwest as well as southern Europe, Australia and Africa.

In November, the U.S. Energy Department said it would provide $5.2 million in funding to support the development of low-cost concentrated solar power such as that being advocated by SolarReserve. An additional $7.2 million has been earmarked to support commercialization of clean energy technologies.

Workers Get Incentives to Live Greener
The Wall Street Journal
By Kelly Spors

It irked Greg James to see some of his employees roll up to work in hulking, gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles -- often driving more than 40 miles a day round trip.

So in 2005 he finally did something about it.

The chief executive and founder of Topics Entertainment Inc., a Renton, Wash., DVD and software publisher, Mr. James established an incentive program that offers its 55 employees $1,000 to trade in their automobiles for one with fewer cylinders in the engine. Buying a hybrid or biodiesel vehicle earns them $2,500, while car pooling at least three days a week pays $300 annually split between the ride sharers.

Ten employees have claimed the auto-purchase bonus so far. Mr. James estimates that by getting those new vehicles and boosting their gas mileage an average 10 miles per gallon, employees cut last year's gasoline consumption during commutes by 2,400 gallons.

"You don't need a big gas hog to drive one person to work in the morning," he says.

Big Incentives

impact of their pollution. But a growing number of small companies like Topics also are seeing value in encouraging employees to make environmentally friendlier choices as well -- at home, at work and in their commutes.

Among the incentives: giving bonuses to employees who buy more fuel-efficient vehicles and outfit their homes in more energy-efficient ways, as well as helping employees support environmental causes. Even low-cost measures, such as letting employees purchase energy-efficient light bulbs at the employer's bulk price, are making a difference in employees' behavior and energy use.

In an era when more young workers are seeking out employers with a socially responsible mission, such green incentives can help bolster recruitment efforts and foster goodwill. At small companies especially, green benefits can be an easy and effective way to ingrain a workplace's eco-friendly mission.

"I think employers are just beginning to understand that, to have an environmentally conscious work force, you need to help them in their everyday lives," says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, a Web site devoted to businesses' use of environmentally friendlier practices.

Many early adopters are socially responsible companies that see it as a way to extend their mission and marketing. But Mr. Makower says he wouldn't be surprised to see many of the practices spill more broadly into mainstream businesses as employers realize the environmental benefits -- and good publicity -- such programs can create.

'World of Difference'

At Topics, Lindsay Collins, the company's DVD product manager, says the bonus plan prompted her to start thinking about the fuel efficiency of the car she was driving. So, she sold her six-cylinder Volkswagen Jetta and bought a four-cylinder Hyundai Elantra. Ms. Collins says the switch, which she wouldn't have done without the $1,000 assistance from Topics, has boosted her gas mileage to about 37 miles per gallon on a highway, from the Jetta's 24 miles per gallon. "It's just made a world of difference in how often I have to get gas," says the 27-year-old.

Loans and Massages

Another company helping employees switch to more fuel-efficient rides is Clif Bar & Co., a Berkeley, Calif., maker of organic energy bars, with 212 employees. Clif offers forgivable loans of as much as $5,000 so employees can buy vehicles that get at least 40 miles per gallon. With the forgivable loans, employees don't have to pay back any of the money if they stay with the company for generally five years; a certain amount is forgiven each year.

The company also rewards points to employees who commute by public transportation, car pool, walk or bike. The points can be exchanged for cash or rewards like gift certificates to Whole Foods Market and free massages.

This week, Clif is introducing two new benefits -- one giving employees as much as $1,000 annually for making energy-saving home improvements, like buying more energy-efficient appliances and home compost kits; and one offering as much as $500 to buy or retrofit a commuter bicycle, like installing a basket to hold things.

So far, about 75 employees have participated in some way in the environmental benefits, says human-resources manager Jennifer Freitas, and the company has spent roughly $100,000 on those benefits. Some employees have gotten ambitious by finding colleagues to car pool with on their routes to work and turning fuel savings into something of a sport.
Ms. Freitas says the company sees the program not only as a good employee motivator but also as helping serve one of its core missions -- "sustaining our planet."

At NRG Systems Inc., a Hinesburg, Vt., wind-measurement manufacturer with about 85 employees, people who buy a Toyota Prius get a $1,000 bonus each year. About 26 employees have purchased the car so far. NRG also holds monthly meetings on various environmental and alternative-energy topics. And it has a white board where it keeps track of employees who've taken advantage of the company's various green incentives.

Buying Credits

Some companies find that the participation of even a few employees can have an impact. Green Mountain Energy Co., an Austin, Texas, renewable-electricity provider, lets employees buy renewable-energy credits to offset their carbon-dioxide emissions. It also matches donations to environmental groups made through payroll deduction, up to $10 per two-week pay period.

In addition, the company hands out prizes like gift certificates based on points that employees rack up by finding alternatives to driving to work, such as biking or taking public transportation.

Though only about 25 of Green Mountain's 150 employees participate in the commuter program, the impact has been substantial, with those people collectively driving about 21,000 fewer miles in 2007, says Gillan Taddune, the company's chief environmental officer.

"People in general get overwhelmed when they hear about glaciers melting," she says. "I think companies can help [employees] do things in ways they can sustain."

Solar Today
Finding The Phantoms: Eliminate Standby Energy Loss
By: Joe Schwartz

When you climb into bed at night, ready to shut down for the day, are your home’s electrical appliances doing the same? Some of your appliances do useful work while you sleep—Refrigerators and centralized heating systems cycle on and off to keep your food cool and your house warm. Other appliances, like TVs, computers, and modems, are likely also using energy while you sleep, but not performing any useful service. These useless energy draws are referred to as phantom loads, and unless you keep them in check, they will haunt your home’s energy use all night, every night.

The energy wasted by phantom loads is commonly referred to as standby loss. And while a given appliance’s standby loss may be small in terms of power (watts; W), these phantom loads are consuming electricity 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, the cumulative energy (watt-hours; WH) they waste is substantial. Some quick math can help put phantom loads in perspective in terms of overall energy use. The average U.S. household has about 40 to 60 W of continuous phantom loads running, day in and day out. On average, this amounts to approximately 1,200 WH per day (50 W x 24 hrs./day = 1,200 WH/day) or 1.2 kilowatt-hours (KWH) per day.

The same average U.S. home uses about 900 KWH of electricity per month, and 36 KWH per month, or about 4 percent of total electricity use, is due to standby losses. Multiply this figure by 122 million U.S. housing units, and enough energy is wasted by standby losses in the United States to run all of the homes on the continent of Australia, and then some. These figures are the stuff that energy nightmares are made of.

Identifying Phantoms

Many, if not most, electronic devices can be phantom loads—TVs; microwave ovens; VCR, CD and DVD players; computers; etc .Pro-
ducts that have external power supplies (wall cubes) are often accompanied by constant standby consumption. The table surveys some phantom loads present in a typical U.S. household. Keep in mind that a home’s standby energy consumption can vary widely depending on the number of appliances and how they are designed. Phantom loads fall into two general categories—appliances that consume energy even when they’re turned “off,” and appliances that, compared to when they’re fully operational, use a lesser amount of energy to keep displays, remote controls, and power supplies ready for the product’s primary use. Let’s look at the energy use of a DVD player as an example. One current model DVD player draws 11 W while showing your favorite flick. With no movie playing, and just the LCD display lit, it consumes a little bit less—9 W. But even when you turn off the DVD player, it still draws 3 W. If you look at the DVD player’s energy use modes (playing, on, and off) over the course of a day, some interesting energy use figures come to light.

Let’s assume that you’re a full-on video-head and watch a two-hour movie every night. If you break down the DVD player’s 24-hour energy use by the time spent in each mode, it consumes 22 WH (11 W x 2 hrs.) while the movie’s spinning. If you shut the player off after you’re done watching, the DVD player will still consume another 66 WH (3 W x 22 hrs.) before you plunk down to watch another movie the next night. If you zonk out during the movie and forget to turn the DVD player off, it will consume 198 WH (9 W x 22 hours) over the same time frame. So over a 24-hour period, the DVD player uses three times as much energy when it’s off as when it’s playing, and nine times the energy if you forget to turn it off altogether.

The Making of a Phantom

Nearly all of the electronic appliances around your home rely on power supplies to convert the 120 volts AC provided at your electrical outlet to lower-voltage DC to power the appliance’s electronics. The familiar wall cubes you plug in to power your cordless phone or to charge your cell phone battery are both examples of external power supplies. Unfortunately, the inexpensive electronics we’ve become accustomed to have notoriously inefficient power supplies. High transformer core losses in the power supplies themselves will waste electricity as long as they’re plugged in. And many built-in power supplies are switched on the output, rather than on the input side of the transformer, so some electricity at 120 volts is continuously being consumed. This means that the transformer is never actually turned off, even though the appliance itself may be. Not all appliances have external power supplies, but the lack of a visible wall cube doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Many electronic devices such as computers and TVs have built-in internal power supplies. So just like your cordless phone, your TV is likely using electricity unless it’s unplugged from the wall outlet. Plus, most TVs and many other appliances have remote control receivers that are powered all the time, ready for you to hit their power buttons to turn the appliances on.

and how much energy they’re using each day. Once you’ve identified the worst offenders, the next step is to truly shut them down.

Defeating Phantoms

You’ll likely need to live with some phantom loads, such as cordless phones that need to be ready to go at any time. Answering machines, on the other hand, can easily be replaced by voice mail provided by your phone company. Once you’ve identified unnecessary phantom loads around your house, the next step is to figure out how to conveniently shut them down when they’re not in use or required. One option is to unplug any appliance that has a standby loss, but this can be inconvenient. Instead, using plug strips can be a simple and effective strategy to defeat phantom loads. They cost about $5 each, and are available at hardware and appliance stores everywhere. Plug strips can be used to group appliances that you regularly use in conjunction with one another—your modem, computer, and monitor can be on one strip, while hardware you use less frequently, like your printer, scanner, and external hard drive, can be on another. If you’re rewiring circuits in your home, or building from scratch, well-planned electrical circuits can include switched receptacles that will shut down phantom loads at the flip of a switch.

Serious About Standby Losses

The subsidized, low cost of grid electricity in the United States has led many of us into bad habits when it comes to energy use, and it has also served as a disincentive for appliance manufacturers to design highly efficient products with low standby losses. As electricity costs continue to escalate, and as federal programs like Energy Star continue to reward manufacturers with efficient designs, we can expect the trend of improved appliance energy efficiency to continue. Some of the super energy-efficient homes featured in Home Power can run all their household loads using the same amount of electricity that a typical American household wastes on phantom loads. So see how low you can go—get your hands on a power meter, and spend an hour or two surveying your home for phantom loads. You’ll be rewarded by shaving a bit off your next electrical bill, and you’ll sleep better at night knowing that your efforts are helping to reduce our overall energy use, and the pollution associated with fossil fuel and nuclear electricity generation. And when you do install an RE system to power your home, there will be significant savings in up-front equipment costs (see sidebar). Remember, energy saved is energy that doesn’t need to be generated in the first place.