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Prof. Richard Lazarus of Harvard’s Law School spends 6:30 describing how unlikely it seems that climate change legislation will become law, and then spends the remaining time discussing how to overcome the barriers that prevent the law from being enacted. Just when you thought that there was no light at the end of the tunnel (the 6:30 mark) he shows us what might be a way out.
Scientists at Berkeley Lab do. One DOE-funded project at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab takes Berkeley scientists and pairs them with expertise from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and General Motors (GM). The net result? A plan to develop a cost-effective hydrogen storage system for vehicles.
The basic idea is to make a material that can store large volumes of hydrogen at low pressures. This makes using hydrogen more cost-effective (less energy use for high-pressure pumping) and safer (lower pressure makes it safer). So, how does one make a container store more of something without high pressures? Simple, make the storage container’s material a sponge for hydrogen. (That’s the material in the image above.)
Read more about the project here.
The USGBC recently announced their 2011 list of top 10 states for LEED green buildings. DC beat out every state with 31 sq. ft. of LEED-certified space per person. The fact that this announcement comes not long after the Treasury Building was LEED certified – and became the oldest building to receive certification – firmly places D.C. in a leading role for building efficiency and design in the nation.
Read more about the list, including notable projects from the top ten, at CEILeadership.org.
The state in the darkest shade of blue on the map above is New York. In New York in 2009, per person energy consumption was 196 million BTUs. This was the most efficient number, as a state, in the nation.
The state in the darkest shade of orange on the map above is Wyoming. In Wyoming in 2009, per person energy consumption was 956 million BTUs. This was the most inefficient number, as a state, in the nation
The fact that New York was the most efficient state in 2009 isn’t that surprising. New York had, and still has, a lot of great financial incentives for energy efficiency in place. And there’s no real surprise that Wyoming came in where it did either, though some incentives and policies are in place in the state to encourage efficiency and renewables. What really struck us after looking at the map and the per-person data, is the size of the gap between #1 and #51 (including DC) and the apparent positive results of good policy. States known to have good energy policy show up in blue right across the country.
Thanks to Voice of America for sharing their wrap-up video with us!
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With all of the excitement of GOVgreen last week, we didn’t get to share a very interesting article from The Washington Post with you. As reported by the Post, the GSA and Metro are planning to coordinate Metro service and future federal facilities locations to provide federal employees with public transit options at the new locations.
It seems as though the GSA’s need for more space could be met using Metro-owned land and employees could benefit from convenient – and green – transit options.
Read the article at The Washington Post for more.
Visit the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory YouTube site for more great talks by their experts.
GOVgreen Attendees do, now! Visit the GOVgreen YouTube channel for more post-plenary interviews.
