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Much more energy storage for New York

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As solar and wind power play an ever-growing role in the electricity grid, the need for energy storage also grows.  Even if sun and wind can provide more energy than is needed at a particular time, they can’t provide it at all times.  The ability to store excess energy waiting in reserve for when the sun and wind are not providing it is essential to avoid the need for burning fossil fuels to take up the slack.

The New York State Public Service Commission has announced that it has approved a new framework for the state to have in place a nation-leading six gigawatts of energy storage by 2030.  This represents at least 20% of the peak electricity load of New York State.

An extensive set of recommendations to expand New York’s energy storage programs describe cost-effective ways to unlock the rapid growth of renewable energy across the state as well as to bolster the reliability of the grid.  The buildout of storage deployment is estimated to reduce projected future statewide electric system costs by nearly $2 billion.  New York has previously established goals to generate 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040.

The new roadmap includes programs to procure an additional 4.7 gigawatts of new energy storage projects across large-scale, retail, and residential energy storage sectors across the state.  These future procurements, when combined with the 1.3 gigawatts already being procured or under contract, will allow the State to achieve the 6-gigawatt goal by 2030.

Energy storage plays a critical role in decarbonizing the grid, reducing electricity system costs, and improving the reliability of the electricity system.

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New York approves plan to add six gigawatts of energy storage by 2030

Photo courtesy of NineDot Energy.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Protecting berries with sunflower extract

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Many of us buy blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and more in those little clear plastic clamshell boxes.  We try to check them out at the store to make sure they are ok and even if are, many soon end up coated with gray mold and other fungi.  It is a problem that is both disappointing and expensive.

Researchers from several Chinese Universities recently reported that compounds extracted from sunflower crop waste are quite effective at preventing rotting in blueberries.  They suggest that the food industry could use these natural compounds to protect berries from postharvest diseases.

Sunflowers are grown globally for their seeds and oil.  The flower stems themselves are generally considered to be a waste product.  Sunflowers are known to be particularly resistant to many plant diseases so the researchers decided to investigate whether there might be chemical constituents within the plants that are responsible for the protective property.

Their research led to the isolation of 17 different compounds known as diterpenoids, including four that have never been identified before.  They found that 4 of the compounds, including 2 of the newly discovered ones, were effective at preventing the growth of fungus on the blueberries. 

Berries were wetted with the compounds and then dried off and injected with mold spores.  Half of the treated berries were protected from the mold.

There is no reason that the method couldn’t be applied to a variety of crops.  There is great appeal in the concept of using a harmless extract from a plant to render a food crop safe from fungal infestation.  The technique holds great promise in preventing postharvest disease in fruit.

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Sunflower extract fights fungi to keep blueberries fresh

Photo, posted August 26, 2006, courtesy of Liz West via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Food Waste And The Environment | Earth Wise

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It is tragic that 31% of the world’s food production goes uneaten.  About 14% isn’t distributed after it is harvested.  Another 17% ends up wasted in retail or by consumers.  Worldwide, the amount of food that is wasted is enough to feed more than a billion people while at least 828 million people continue to be affected by hunger.  To make matters worse, food waste accounts for 8 to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is at least double that of aviation.  Food waste, rotting away in landfills, produces methane gas, a major source of global warming.

Around the world, there are efforts being launched to try to improve the situation.  California now has a law that requires grocery stores to donate edible food that would otherwise be disposed of or they face fines.  The state’s cities and counties are required to reduce the amount of organic waste going into landfills by 75% by 2025 and compost it instead.

In London, grocers no longer put date labels on fruits and vegetables because the labels were leading people to trash perfectly good food.  France now requires supermarkets and large caterers to donate food that is still safe to eat.

South Korea has little space for landfills.  So, the country has been campaigning against throwing away food for 20 years.  Nearly all organic waste in the country is turned into animal feed, compost, or biogas.  Koreans even have to pay for throwing out food waste.  There are now trash bins equipped with electronic sensors that weigh food waste.

All of these things can help.  There is no single magic bullet for reducing food waste, but it is essential to do for so many reasons.

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Inside the Global Effort to Keep Perfectly Good Food Out of the Dump

Photo, posted November 30, 2020, courtesy of Marco Verch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Greening Halloween | Earth Wise

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According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween participation is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.  Spending on Halloween festivities by the 69% of Americans who celebrate is expected to add up to $10.6 billion in 2022 – or more than $100 per person – reaching a new record high. 

Halloween generates a mind-boggling amount of waste.  Picture all the flimsy single-use costumes, plastic candy wrappers, mass-produced decorations, and so on.  Here are some tricks to treat you to a greener holiday.

Our first trick is to invest in quality costumes.  Mass-produced (and often single use) costumes leave the largest carbon footprint from Halloween.  They are often made from unsustainable materials, manufactured in countries with poor labor standards, and too many end up in landfills by mid-November. By renting, thrifting, swapping, or making your own costumes, many of the negative impacts of dressing up for the holiday can be avoided.

Our second trick is to invest in environmentally-friendly decorations and supplies.  For example, carve local pumpkins and save the seeds and flesh to eat later.  Make your own spooky decorations.  If you do buy decorations, ensure that they are durable and reusable.  And use a wicker basket, old bag, or pillowcase to trick-or-treat.

Our third trick is to pass out organic and fair trade candy.  Some of the largest candy manufacturers are major drivers of deforestation and species extinction around the globe due to their demand for sugar, palm oil, and cocoa beans.

If you’ve already spent your $100 this year, consider these changes for next year.  It’s never too late to become a superhero.

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Retail Holiday and Seasonal Trends: Halloween

Photo, posted October 14, 2007, courtesy of Brian via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Solar-Powered Target Store | Earth Wise

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Many companies have made sustainability commitments of various types. Environmental organizations have urged big-box and grocery stores to install solar panels on their rooftops and parking lots thereby reducing their energy usage and expanding the country’s supply of renewable energy.  These places occupy large areas and therefore are capable of supporting large solar arrays.

According to a report by two environmental advocacy groups, rooftop solar panels on retail stores could generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 8 million U.S. homes.

Target Stores are one of the retailers that has been making an effort to be a greener company.  Target has installed solar panels on about 25% of its approximately 1,900 stores.  The Target store in Vista, California, about 40 miles north of San Diego, is the company’s most sustainable store.  It already had solar panels on its rooftop, powering a portion of the store.

But now it has installed massive carports topped with solar panels high above its parking lot.  With these panels, this Target can now produce enough renewable energy to power the entire store, from its refrigeration to its heating and air conditioning. Adding in some of the other energy-saving features of the store, Target expects to produce 10% more energy than the store needs, which it will return to the local power grid.  This is Target’s first net-zero energy store.

Target is not the only big retailer going solar.   Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Walmart all have been installing solar panels on some of their rooftops.  Even some restaurants are trying to reach sustainability goals with solar panels.  This is a trend that hopefully will continue to grow.

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Target looks to massive solar panels in a California parking lot as a green model to power its stores

Photo, posted June 30, 2014, courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Getting Rid Of Plastic Here And Abroad

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Efforts in the fight against plastic pollution are really stepping up these days. 

New York State lawmakers have agreed to impose a statewide ban on most types of single-use plastic bags from retail sales.  The ban would be the second statewide ban after California, which banned the bags in 2016.  Hawaii effectively also has such a ban since all of the state’s counties have their own bans.

The New York ban would begin next March and would forbid stores from providing customers with single-use plastic bags.  There are a number of exceptions, including food takeout bags in restaurants, bags used to wrap deli or meat counter products, and newspaper bags.  New York counties could opt into a plan to charge a 5-cent fee on paper bags, with proceeds going to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund.  Some environmentalists point out, however, that paper bags have their own issues.  While they do decompose in landfills, they have a substantial carbon footprint since they are made from wood and being heavier, they are more costly to ship.  Business groups are concerned about the forthcoming ban based on increased costs.

Meanwhile, European Union member states have reached a provisional agreement to introduce restrictions on single-use plastic products.  In 2021. European citizens will say goodbye to plastic cutlery, plastic plates and plastic straws among other products.

According to the European Commission, plastics make up 85% of beach litter in the Mediterranean.  Large plastic pieces injure, suffocate, and often kill marine animals but microplastics have reached record levels of concentration – over a million fragments per square kilometer – in the Mediterranean.

Both here and abroad, the war on plastics is heating up.

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Plastic Bags to Be Banned in New York; Second Statewide Ban, After California

The End Of Plastic Cutlery, Plates And Straws: EU Market Says Goodbye To Single-Use Plastic Products

Photo, posted March 20, 2007, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Australian Plastic Bag Ban

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Last summer, the two largest supermarket chains in Australia – Coles and Woolworth’s – decided to stop offering single-use disposable plastic bags to customers.  The initial public reaction was decidedly negative.   However, within just three months after the radical change, the country’s National Retail Association reported an 80% drop in the consumption of plastic bags nationwide.

In that three-month period, it is estimated that 1.5 billion bags have been prevented from use.   Some retailers are reporting reduction rates as high as 90% in the use of the bags.  The move by the big supermarkets has paved the way for smaller businesses to follow suit. The smaller businesses typically can’t afford to risk the wrath of their customers with a major change like this. Customers have to learn to bring their own bags or buy reusable bags at the store.

In much of Australia, the phase-out of plastic bags has been legislated, but the state of New South Wales, home to Sydney, the country’s largest city, has not enacted such legislation. So, supermarkets themselves are doing the work of getting rid of the bags.

The change has not been without hiccups.  For the first couple of months after the plastic bag ban was put in place, Woolworth’s saw poor sales in its stores.  However, customers eventually got used to the new way of doing things and sales levels returned.

Disposable plastic bags often find their way into the oceans where they break down into microparticles. Studies have shown that these plastic bits are ingested by a wide variety of marine life.  For example, a UK study found that 100% of sea turtles in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea had plastic in their digestive systems.

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Australia-wide ban leads to ’80 per cent drop’ in plastic bag consumption

Photo, posted September 18, 2018, courtesy of Matthew Paul Argall via Flickr.  

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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