Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

You are here: Home / Archives for residential

residential

Carbon Storage In Harvested Wood | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Trees are an exceedingly important carbon sink on our planet.  For this reason, deforestation is a major contributor to climate change.  But when trees are harvested for wood products like lumber, much of the carbon in that wood continues to be stored.  Even when a wood product is discarded at the end of its useful life, it can keep storing carbon.

Over 90% of new single-family homes in the U.S. are built with wood.  Each year, about 400,000 homes, apartment buildings, and other housing units are lost to floods and other natural disasters.  Others fall apart from decay or are torn down to be replaced with newer structures.  Given how much carbon is stored in houses, it is important to understand what the future trajectory of residential structures will be.

A new study by the USDA Forest Service published in the journal PLOS ONE looks at the future of harvested wood products in residential structures.  According to the study, wood products in these structures will continue to increase the country’s carbon storage for the next 50 years. 

Even after residential structures reach the end of their useful life and much of the materials end up in landfills (which is typical in this country), the wood products do not immediately release their carbon.  It may take decades for that to happen.

The study looked at various scenarios for future home construction.  Although housing starts are projected to decline in the future, residential housing and the need to maintain existing structures are projected to continue to increase carbon storage in wood products for the next several decades.

The role of trees as a carbon sink does not end when they are harvested for their wood.

**********

Web Links

Carbon Storage in Harvested Wood Products

Photo, posted January 27, 2022, courtesy of Luke McKernan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar Canopies | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

There are plenty of solar panels on residential rooftops but there are also increasing numbers of arrays of them on croplands, arid lands, and grasslands. Large solar arrays are mostly built in open spaces like these rather than in developed areas.  The reason is that it is cheaper to build on undeveloped land than on rooftops or construct covered parking lots.

However, building on undeveloped land is not necessarily the smartest idea.   Undeveloped land is a dwindling resource that is needed for many different things:  growing food, sheltering wildlife, storing and purifying water, preventing erosion, and sequestering carbon. 

Putting solar panels on parking lots has the appeal that they are abundant, close to electricity customers, and are on land that already has been stripped of much of its biological value.

Putting a solar canopy over a parking lot can produce large amounts of electricity and has the added benefit that it would provide shade for cars.  For example, a typical Walmart supercenter might have a five-acre parking lot, which is enough to support a 3-megawatt solar array.  If Walmart put solar canopies on all of its 3,500+ super centers, it would provide 11 gigawatts of solar power – as much as a dozen large coal-fired power plants.

Solar canopies are still pretty uncommon, but some examples are ones at four DC Metro rail stations, one at JFK Airport, and a large one at the Rutgers University Piscataway campus.

Building parking lot solar canopies is much more expensive than putting solar arrays on open space, but they do eventually pay for themselves. Despite active opposition by utility and fossil fuel interests, solar canopies may eventually be a common sight.

**********

Web Links

Why Putting Solar Canopies on Parking Lots Is a Smart Green Move

Photo, posted January 10, 2020, courtesy of Tony Webster via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Large Solar Projects In The U.S. | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

The United States now has over 108 gigawatts of total solar generating capacity, which is enough to power about 19 million homes.  There are more than 3 million solar installations across the country, the majority of which are residential systems.

The growth in solar power has been enormous over the past 13 years.  In 2008, the total solar capacity in the U.S. was 0.34 gigawatts.

In recent times, utility-scale solar installations have been on the rise.  At least 10 systems in excess of 100 megawatts have come online just in 2021.  These systems have been built in Georgia, Ohio, California, Texas, and Nevada.  Other large installations have come online in Virginia, Utah, Indiana, and Florida.  Overall, Texas has had the most new installations, followed by California and Florida.

The largest utility-scale solar project completed this year is the Eunice Solar Project in Andrew, Texas.  The 420-megawatt project is part of the Permian Energy Center which also features 40 megawatts of battery energy storage.

The pipeline for new utility-scale solar projects under construction includes more than 17 gigawatts, so there is strong continuing growth in the industry.

The Biden administration has proposed a blueprint for the nation to produce 45% of its electricity from solar power by 2050.  Currently, solar energy contributes about 4% of the country’s power.  Being able to produce almost half the country’s electricity from the sun by 2050 would require a vast transformation in technology and the energy industry.  Whether there is the political will and the wherewithal to achieve this remains to be seen.

**********

Web Links

U.S. Solar Market Insight

Photo, posted March 7, 2019, courtesy of Hedgerow Inc via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Residential Gardens And Pollinators | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

A new study led by the University of Bristol in the UK measured for the first time how much nectar is produced in urban areas to gauge the role of residential gardens in providing nutrients for pollinators.  They discovered that home gardens accounted for the vast majority of the crucial nutrients for pollinators; in fact, some 85% on average.

The study found that gardens generated a daily average of about a teaspoon of the unique sugar-rich liquid found in flowers which pollinators drink for energy.  A teaspoon sounds like very little, but it is enough to feed thousands of bees.

The research examined nectar production in four major UK towns and cities and measured nectar production in nearly 200 species of plants.  The results were that the nectar supply in urban landscapes is more diverse than in farmland and nature reserves.   In addition, gardens are critical because they produce the most nectar per unit area of land and actually cover the largest area of land in the cities studied.  In those cities, nearly a third of the land comprised domestic gardens, which is six times the area of parks and 40 times the area of small green allotments.

The upshot of the research is that home gardeners have a huge role to play in pollinator conservation.  Without domestic gardens, there would be far less food for pollinators that include bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, and beetles.  Thus, it is important for home gardeners to keep planting nectar-rich flowers, mow lawns less often to let dandelions, clovers, and daisies flourish, avoid harmful pesticides, and avoid covering gardens in paving, decking, or artificial turf.

**********

Web Links

Pioneering research reveals gardens are secret powerhouse for pollinators

Photo, posted June 23, 2018, courtesy of Wolfferl via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New York And Renewables | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

In 2019, New York generated more electricity from renewable sources than all but three other states.  The 39.4 million MWh of renewable electricity generated in New York was the largest of any state east of the Mississippi. 

New York has been a leader in renewable power long before it became a topic of great interest because of its hydroelectric power.  In 2019, 78% of the state’s renewable electricity came from hydropower.  The Robert Moses Niagara hydroelectric plant is the second-largest capacity conventional hydroelectric power plant in the country. 

The three states that generated more renewable electricity than New York are California, Texas, and Washington.  Washington gets 69% of all its electricity generation from its multiple hydroelectric plants which together produce a quarter of all hydroelectric power in the nation.  Texas leads the nation in wind-powered generation and gets over 17% of its in-state generation from wind.  California gets 14% of its power from solar generation, 7% from wind, and over 16% from its own hydroelectric resources.

Wind is the second-largest source of renewable power in New York, accounting for 11% of renewable generation in the state and 3% of total electricity generation.  Solar power is expanding in New York, but the great majority of it is still in the form of small-scale installations on residential and commercial rooftops.

New York’s renewable generation grew from 19% in 2005 to 30% at present.  New York’s Clean Energy Standard adopted in 2015 requires the state to generate 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040.

**********

Web Links

New York generated fourth most electricity from renewables of any state in 2019

Photo, posted October 15, 2010, courtesy of michael-swan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar On Commercial Buildings | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

The United States installed 3.6 gigawatts of photovoltaic solar capacity in the first quarter of this year to reach a total installed capacity of 81.4 GW.  That is enough to power about 16 million American homes.  More than 2/3 of that capacity has been installed during the past five years.  

There has been a boom in solar installations in recent years and, until the Covid-19 pandemic stuck, 2020 was expected to be the biggest year yet.  Now the unprecedented health, social, and economic conditions in our country creates great uncertainty in such forecasts.

Nevertheless, the opportunities for growth in solar power continue to be substantial.  A new report from the energy research firm Wood Mackenzie looked at the prospects for using the roof space of commercial buildings for solar power.

Currently, just 3.5% of commercial buildings in the U.S. have solar panels on their roofs.  Another 1% of those buildings are attached to solar projects located off-site.  The report looked at how many buildings are potential targets for solar projects.

After accounting for buildings that are too small or that use too little electricity to make solar power a worthwhile investment, the report estimated that 70% of commercial buildings in the U.S. – amounting to some 600,000 sites – are candidates for solar installations.  Doing this would provide 145 GW of new solar capacity, which is nearly twice as much as currently exists in this country. 

Commercial solar installations have their own unique logistical and financial challenges.  While utility solar can scale to lower costs and residential solar has financing opportunities, commercial solar has neither.  But ultimately, it represents an important opportunity for our future energy system.

**********

Web Links

U.S. Commercial Rooftops Hold 145 Gigawatts of Untapped Solar Potential

Photo, posted June 25, 2014, courtesy of Rob Baxter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewables Surpass Coal | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

In 2019, energy consumption in the U.S. from renewable sources exceeded consumption from coal for the first time since before 1885.  This has come about from a combination of the continued decline in the amount of coal used for electricity generation as well as the continued growth in renewable energy, mostly from wind and solar.

Until the mid-1800s, burning wood was the main source of energy in the U.S. and, in fact, it was the only commercial-scale renewable energy source until the first hydroelectric plants came online in the 1880s.  Coal was used as fuel for steamboats and trains and making steel but only started to be used to generate electricity in the 1880s.

In 2019, U.S. coal consumption decreased for the sixth consecutive year and fell to its lowest level in 42 years.  Natural gas has displaced much of the energy generation from retired coal plants.

At the same time, renewable energy consumption in the U.S. grew for the fourth year in a row to a record high level, almost entirely as a result of the growing use of wind and solar power.  In 2019, wind power surpassed hydroelectric power for the first time and is now the most-used source of renewable energy for electricity generation in the U.S.

Coal was once commonly used in the industrial, transportation, residential, and commercial sectors.  Today, in the U.S., it is mostly used to generate electricity, and that use is rapidly declining.

Electricity consumption for 2020 is likely to be anomalous in many ways as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns.  From all indications, however, the role of renewable energy will only have been increased during the shutdown period.

**********

Web Links

U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal for the first time in over 130 years

Photo, posted July 26, 2013, courtesy of Don Graham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Benefits Of A Zero-Emissions Boston | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Many countries, states, and cities around the world have set goals to become carbon neutral, typically by the year 2050.  These goals are based on the desire to mitigate the effects of climate change that are steadily increasing as a result of the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  But reducing emissions is not just a way to combat climate change, it can also be a major contributor to improved public health.

The City of Boston has set a goal to become carbon neutral by 2050.  A new study by the School of Public Health at Boston University published in the journal Environmental Research Letters looked at the consequences of eliminating fossil fuel emissions in the greater Boston area.

According to their modeling, eliminating emissions would save 288 lives a year by reducing fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses.   The resulting decrease in medical costs and lost and reduced work could save $1.7 billion a year in Suffolk County and $2.4 billion a year for the entire 75-square-mile zone modeled in the study.

The study looked at the amounts of two air pollutants known to harm human health:  PM2.5 (particulates with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns) and ozone.  They compared the current levels of these pollutants to what would be present when contributions from motor vehicles, generators, rail, industry, oil- and gas-burning, shipping and boating, and residential wood fires were eliminated.

The study focused on the City of Boston’s climate action plan, but actions taken by Boston will not take place in a vacuum.  Many cities across the region are taking similar actions.  The overall results will come from the collective actions across New England.

**********

Web Links

A Zero-Emissions Boston Could Save 288 Lives and $2.4 Billion Annually

Photo, posted August 31, 2019, courtesy of Eric Kilby via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Capital Region Community Solar

By Leave a Comment

New York’s Capital Region is getting a major new community solar farm.  A community solar farm is a solar power installation whose output is shared by multiple community subscribers who receive credit on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced.  The primary purpose of community solar is to allow members of a community to have the benefits of solar power even if they cannot or prefer not to install solar panels on their own property.

US Light Energy has broken ground on the Sugar Hill Solar Farm, to be located on 40 acres of land on the Sugar-Hill/Sugar-View Farm in Clifton Park.  The 7-megawatt, ground-mounted solar project will include nearly 20,000 solar modules.  When fully operational later this year, the facility is expected to produce more than 8.6 million kilowatt-hours of energy a year.

The farm will be part of New York state’s Community Solar Program, and the electricity it generates can be supplied to customers anywhere in National Grid’s existing distribution system.  Residential and commercial properties in Clifton Park will have 30 days to subscribe before the solar energy generated by the farm is opened to the general public.  Subscribers of community solar farms typically save 10% on their electricity bills.

There are already community solar programs in operation in several Capital Region communities, but this is the first one in the Clifton Park Area.  Apart from providing savings on utility bills, community solar allows consumers to support clean, locally generated power with little or no upfront costs.  Not everyone is in a position to put solar panels on their roof, but community solar is increasingly an option for New York residents.

**********

Web Links

Construction begins on 7-MW community solar farm in New York

Photo, posted March 19, 2012, courtesy of Kate Ausburn via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Two Million Solar Installations

By Leave a Comment

Three years ago, we reported that the United States had installed its one millionth solar energy system, a feat that took 40 years to accomplish.  Recently, the Solar Energy Industries Association announced that there are now more than 2 million U.S. installations.

Analysts forecast that there will be 3 million installation in 2021 and 4 million in 2023.

California continues to lead the nation in installing solar power.  More than 50% of the first million installations were in that state and California accounted for 43% of the second million.  Its share is nevertheless slowly dropping with the growth of the residential solar sector that is rapidly diversifying across state markets.  Some places have seen extremely rapid growth.  In South Carolina, there were barely more than 1,000 cumulative installations in 2016; today, the state is home to more than 18,000 solar systems and expects to add 22,000 more over the next five years.

The five leading states in terms of number of solar installations are California, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.    Other states recently seeing rapid growth in solar installations are Texas, Utah, Florida, Rhode Island and Maryland.  Looking ahead, Illinois is forecast to grow from only 4,000 installations today to nearly 100,000 by 2024.  The top ten state markets apart from California expect to add nearly 750,000 installation over the next five years.

The United States is at least the third nation that is home to more than 2 million solar installations.  (Australia hit the milestone late least year and Japan actually topped 2 million in September 2014).

According to forecasts from analyst first Wood Mackenzie, by the year 2024, there will be on average one new solar installation every minute.

**********

Web Links

The United States surpasses 2 million solar installations

Photo, posted January 11, 2012, courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The World’s Largest Storage Battery

By Leave a Comment

Many homeowners are installing solar energy systems with battery backup.  Energy stored in the battery can be used when the sun isn’t shining.   As battery prices come down, utility-scale solar installations are also turning to battery-based energy storage.

Florida Power & Light has announced plans to build the world’s largest solar-storage combination facility in Manatee County.  The 409-MW Manatee Energy Storage Center will be the largest solar-battery system by a factor of four.  The specifics of the technology and source of the battery system components have yet to be announced.

The system, which is scheduled to be completed in late 2021, will be charged by a nearby FPL solar power plant.  The plan is to discharge batteries during times of higher demand, thereby offsetting the need to run other power plants.  As a result, there will be reduced emissions and customers will save as much as $100 million through avoided fuel costs.

Installing the mega-sized battery system will accelerate the retirements of two nearby 1970’s-era gas-fired generation units.  At peak efficiency, the Manatee energy storage system will be able to power 390,000 homes for up to two hours.

FPL has already been pursuing the use of battery storage technology.  Last year, they added a 10 MW battery storage system to its 74.5 MW Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center in Charlotte County.

These large battery systems are increasingly practical because of dramatic reductions in lithium-ion battery costs.  The levelized cost of electricity from lithium-ion batteries has declined a remarkable 38% just since the beginning of 2018.  The economics of clean energy continue to get better and better.

**********

Web Links

FP&L Plans World’s Largest Energy Storage Battery To Support Its Renewable Energy Goals

Photo, posted April 21, 2010, courtesy of Frank Starmer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Dangerous Cities For Migrating Birds

By Leave a Comment

Billions of birds migrate north in the spring and south in the fall.  The majority of them fly at night. But as they pass over large cities, the birds can become disoriented by bright artificial light – so-called light pollution, causing them to crash into buildings or windows.

Researchers estimate that 600 million birds die from building collisions in the United States every year.  Now, a new paper from researchers at Cornell University reveals which metropolitan areas are most dangerous for birds and why.

The researchers ranked cities where, as a result of geography and exposure to light pollution, birds are at the greatest risk of becoming attracted to and disoriented by lights and crashing into buildings. They combined light pollution levels with bird density data in order to make their calculations.  Their paper was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.    

Chicago, Houston, and Dallas finished as the three most dangerous cities for migrating birds.  While migration routes vary depending on the season, these three cities still topped all others during both the spring and fall migrations due to their size and geographic positioning in the heart of North America’s most trafficked aerial corridors.  

Audubon’s Lights Out program is one of several national efforts encouraging cities to reduce light pollution, particularly on heavy migration nights, in order to reduce bird mortality. 

But homeowners need to do their part as well since an estimated quarter-million birds die from collisions with residential houses every year.  The suggestion to cities and homeowners alike is the same:  If you don’t need the lights, turn them off. 

**********

Web Links

Chicago tops list of most dangerous cities for migrating birds

Photo, posted May 18, 2017, courtesy of Pedro Szekely via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Utility-Scale Solar On The Rise

By Leave a Comment

According to research from Goldman Sachs, utility-scale solar power capacity is expected to grow by double digits globally over the next two years.  The growth will be driven by expanding use of the technology in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and China.

Solar power is the world’s fastest growing source of electricity generation and is slowly taking market share from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.  The transition is being driven by a combination of continuously lower prices for solar power and the impact of policies aimed at reducing emissions.

Utility-scale solar is defined as installations designed solely to feed electricity into the grid, in contrast to smaller-scale residential or commercial building units.  There are now solar farms larger than half a gigawatt in generating capacity.  According to the Goldman report, global utility-scale solar installations will reach 108 gigawatts in 2019, up 12% over the previous year, and will then grow another 10% to 119 gigawatts in 2020.

When residential and other smaller installations are included, most analysts expect global solar power capacity to soon hit 600 gigawatts.  To put this in perspective, the global capacity only reached 100 gigawatts in 2012 and was actually less than 10 gigawatts in 2007.

Even more dramatic than the growth of solar installations is the reduction in solar cost, and the two are obviously closely related.  Solar panel costs have dropped from around $70 per watt of electricity generated in 1980 to 36 cents per watt currently in the United States.  When favorable policies both from governments and related to corporate sustainability targets are added to the mix, the booming growth in solar power is easy to understand.

**********

Web Links

Large-scale solar power set for double-digit growth: Goldman Sachs

Photo, posted March 7, 2019, courtesy of Hedgerow Inc via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

One Million Roofs

By

Sometime early in May, the United States installed its one millionth solar energy system.  Achieving this milestone took the solar industry about 40 years to accomplish.  Because of the phenomenal growth of solar power in this country, industry experts predict that it will only take two more years to reach the second million and there are predictions that by the year 2025, there will be one million new installations in the U.S. each year.

[Read more…] about One Million Roofs

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)