Wave power generator cranks up off Portuguese coast, and Oregon may be next

The world's first commercial wave power project has cranked up at last three miles off the Portuguese coast, CNN reports. The first phase is expected to generate 2.25 megawatts, enough power for 1,000 homes, according to the Guardian.

"If successful, a second phase will see energy generation rise to 21 megawatts from a further 25 machines providing electricity for 15,000 Portuguese homes," CNN says.

The generators, made by a company called Pelamis, are three red cylindrical converters (shown here) which are partially submerged in the Atlantic Ocean. "Moving up and down on the endless waves of the open sea, they convert motion into electricity, without emitting any of the carbon dioxide that is warming the planet," the Guardian notes.

Meanwhile the U.S. Department of Energy has, for the first time, awarded a $2-million contract to an American company called Ocean Power Technologies to build a wave power generator. The generator will be installed off the Oregon coast, according to a press release. The first "PowerBuoy" should be ready for installation by the second half of 2009, the company said. It's already working on a similar project off Spain.

One of the questions these companies will have to deal with, however, is the impact the power generators may have on fish, seabirds and marine mammals, according to a recent study by Oregon State University.

For more on the Pelamis system, click this: Download pelamisbrochure.pdf.

--Craig Pittman

No curbside recycling says St. Pete mayor -- not even if it's free

Pinellas County has a deal for St. Petersburg: We'll reduce carbon emissions, extend the life of the landfill and provide curbside recycling to every household, all at no extra cost to taxpayers.

And St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker still wants no part of it, reports today's St. Petersburg Times. Did we mention that  Baker chairs the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, the one that listed climate change as one of the state's top challenges?

The county's ongoing effort to bring free curbside recycling to every residence in Pinellas has been met with firm opposition from Baker, who questions the financial and environmental benefits of the initiative, notes our colleague Christina Silva. So a lot of St. Petersburg's recyclable material winds up going to the incinerator instead.

One argument city officials make: Curbside recycling translates to more fuel-hungry trucks on the road. City internal services administrator Mike Connors estimates curbside collection would require the trucks to burn an extra 25,000 gallons of fuel, producing 20 tons of engine exhaust in St. Petersburg alone. So the city prefers that residents use any of the dozens of dropoff recycling centers across the county, which requires them to use their own vehicles to get there.

Hogwash, say county officials.The county estimates 4.8-million gallons of gas would be saved if 440 tons of recyclable material were picked up curbside instead of at collection centers. Greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 20,900 metric tons, the equivalent of removing 16,600 passenger cars from the road.

Interim County Administrator Fred Marquis asked whether Connors had any evidence to support his claim that forcing St. Petersburg residents to do their own dropoff recycling somehow uses less fuel than sending out trucks to pick up recycling materials at the curbside.

"I'm not able to prove that," Connors conceded, then put this twist on his argument: "But I'm not so sure anyone can disprove that."

UPDATE: On Sept. 24, Mayor Baker announced he had changed his mind. For details click here.

[Associated Press photo]

--Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer

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Hybrid cars pay off in a year -- thanks to higher gas prices

This has always been the big question about gas-electric hybrid cars: Sure they help save the planet and your lungs by cutting emissions. But they cost you more up front than a regular old gas-guzzling polluter. So if you're buying a hybrid, is that higher cost balanced out by the savings you get?

The answer, according to the latest Consumer Reports, is yes, depending on the make and model you pick: "With gas prices soaring, our latest analysis of owner costs shows that you can save more than $4,000 over five years by choosing a hybrid over a similar conventional gasoline-powered vehicle. Six of the 12 affordable hybrids we looked at can save you from about $500 to $4,250, even without tax credits, and pay back their price premium after only one year"

Those six are the Toyota Prius and hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Malibu and Tahoe, Ford Escape, Saturn Vue, and Toyota Camry.

"The Toyota Camry Hybrid, which got 34 mpg overall in our tests, saves the most money, about $4,250 over five years, compared with a similarly equipped four—cylinder Toyota Camry XLE, which gets 24 mpg," the magazine reported.

Not all the hybrids are quite so beneficial to your pocketbook, however: "The Lexus models and Toyota Highlander Hybrid show five-year losses ranging from about $1,250 for the Highlander to $5,500 for the GS," the magazine noted.

[Ford Escape hybrid from Ford website]

--Craig Pittman

Mowers, boat engines, weed trimmers must clean up pollution, says EPA

"From lawn mowers and weed trimmers, to personal watercraft and speedboats," the Environmental Protection Agency announced today it's finally going to crack down on polluting emissions from small-horsepower gas engines.

"EPA's new small engine standards will allow Americans to cut air pollution as well as grass,"  EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said. "These standards help fight smog in our neighborhoods and waterways as we continue to improve the environmental landscape."

The emission reductions for speedboats and personal watercraft begin in 2010, while the restrictions on lawn-care engines go into effect in 2011. "The reductions will be the equivalent of removing one out of every five cars and trucks on the road," the Associated Press reports.

Manufacturers will probably comply with the new rules by adding catalytic converters to the engines, the EPA says. Although that will make the engines cost more, the EPA says consumers will benefit because the requirements will "save approximately 190 million gallons of gasoline each year," not to mention "preventing over 300 premature deaths, 1,700 hospitalizations, and 23,000 lost workdays annually."

China's emissions from power plants jumps by a third, will surpass U.S. for first time

So much for the breath of fresh air that was the Olympics, when the Chinese authorities temporarily curtailed car and truck traffic and clamped down on polluting factories. As a result, Beijing residents enjoyed the best air quality in a decade.

Now it turns out that carbon emissions from China's electric power sector "will jump by about a third this year and surpass the total emissions of the U.S. electric power industry for the first time," the Washington Post is reporting.

The story is based on a report from the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based think tank, which posts on its website an interactive map of the power plants around the world producing the most emissions.

"According to the report, Chinese power plants will produce about 3.1 billion tons of CO2 this year, up from about 2.3 billion tons in 2007," the Post story notes. "U.S. power plants are expected to produce about 2.8 billion tons of CO2 this year, about the same as last year."

Perhaps the most intriguing fact in the story is at the end: "Half of the biggest carbon emitters worldwide are Chinese power companies, led by Huaneng Power International, an independent company initially led by the son of former premier Li Peng (remembered as the man who crushed the dissidents at Tianemen Square). The next biggest are the South African utility Eskom, China Huadian Group and the Atlanta-based Southern Co., which has 4.4 million customers and 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity."

[AP photo of Beijing smog, pre-Olympics]

--Craig Pittman

EPA too lax on air pollution, federal appeals court rules

In a blow against the oil and refining industry, a U.S. federal appeals court has thrown out an EPA rule that prevented states from implementing tougher pollution monitoring requirements, CNN is reporting.

The court held that EPA violated the Clean Air Act by allowing the largest air pollution sources to avoid monitoring, recording and recordkeeping of their air pollution emissions, even though those records are needed to assure compliance with clean air laws.

The EPA rule actually barred states and other permitting agencies from requiring any of these activities in clean air permits. According to Earthjustice, which sued on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Project, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club, the EPA rule gave a free pass to approximately 18,000 pollution sources.

“This is a huge victory for everyone who breathes,” said Earthjustice attorney Keri Powell.

Here's the 19-page court ruling: Download EPAAirPollutionDecision.pdf

[Times photo by Skip O'Rourke]

--Craig Pittman

Cities log carbon emissions, look for ways to cut 'em back

Nearly two dozen U.S. cities, including New York, Las Vegas and Denver, have agreed to measure their carbon footprints, in an attempt to find ways to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Reuters is reporting. The only city in Florida that's participating is West Palm Beach, according the press release from the Carbon Disclosure Project, which helped set up the emissions measurement project.

"Each of the 21 cities will gather emissions data for their municipal functions, such as their fire and police departments, government buildings and waste services, which will help cities compare how they are doing," Reuters reports. "They will also assess emissions from the city as a whole."

"If you don't measure these emissions, you cannot manage them,"   Paul Dickinson, the chief executive of the UK- based Carbon Disclosure Project, told Reuters. Once the cities discover their biggest sources of emissions, he said, emerging energy-efficiency companies should swoop in and find ways for them to save emissions and money by slowing the waste of fuel.

"The process should really lead to the beginnings of a fundamental restructuring of how cities consume energy," he said.

[AP photo]

--Craig Pittman

Gas prices drop -- did Beijing Olympics do it?

Prices at the pump are clearly headed down nationwide bringing welcome relief. Tampa's metro area had the lowest average price in the state, $3.96. Some observers think regular unleaded could drop to $3.75 or lower by end of summer, says a story in today's St. Petersburg Times. But what caused it?

For one thing, all across America people are driving less. "U.S. demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended July 18 was 2.4 percent lower than a year earlier, averaging more than 9.3-million barrels a day," notes the story by Kris Hundley. "That resulted in an increase in gasoline stockpiles of 2.9-million barrels. Analysts had expected an increase of half a million."

But one expert sees the answer overseas. "The main catalyst has been China, which has taken huge steps to lower demand as well as clean air by taking 21-million cars off the road overnight," said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa, referring to a government mandate to curtail driving in advance of the Beijing Olympics. "That's been the tipping point."

[AP photo from Miami]

--Craig Pittman

Olympic masks are the hot new fashion, thanks to Beijing's choking smog

The pollution that's made China the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases is clouding the picture for athletes who hope to compete in the Olympics in Beijing next month. Beijing's smog is made of carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter and dust, all produced by 3.3-million vehicles and lots of heavy industry.

So even though Chinese officials have taken some drastic steps to try to clear the air by the start of the Summer Olympics, it's probably not going to be sufficient to protect the athletes competing in any event that doesn't involve a gym or a swimming pool.

The solution? "Concerned about the pollution, the U.S. Olympic Committee is distributing a high-tech mask, developed in secrecy, to its more than 600 Olympians," the Wall Street Journal reported this week.

The masked Americans won't be alone, says the Toronto Star. "Along with the team's other essential supplies, a shipment of Canadian masks have already landed in Beijing," the paper reports. "Though the athletes will not wear them during competition, they might consider using them when moving around outdoors." The 182 Kiwi athletes from New Zealand will get masks too, although they will be encouraged to leave them off while competing.

This is not idle fearmongering. Frank Fiberto, head physician of the U.S. boxing team, saw what can happen during some Olympic trials in Beijing in November. "On a scheduled five-mile run one morning, the boxers were coughing," the Journal reported. "Five of the 11 boxers came down with bronchitis, and three required medical treatment, he says." The team spent the rest of the visit training inside its hotel.

However, some people are worried that trying to protect the athletes' lungs might be taken as an insult by the Chinese. "When you're walking around with a mask on, you're basically saying, 'You guys stink,' "  Scott Schnitzspahn, performance director of th e U.S. triathlon team, told the Journal.

[AP photo of Beijing smog taken July 8, 2008]

--Craig Pittman

EPA stalling on greenhouse gas emissions again; meanwhile breathing gets a little harder

The EPA is announcing today that, once again, it is holding off taking any action on regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, despite a clear directive from the U.S. Supreme Court that it should do so, the Washington Post is reporting.

But don't blame the EPA, says the Post -- blame the White House. "They argued that this increase in regulation should be on the next president's record,"  -- and not on President Bush's -- according to an unnamed participant in the decisionmaking debate who was quoted in the Post.

Taxing carbon to combat warming: Frisco board becomes first in the nation

While everyone's been focused on how rising gas prices are messing up the economy, a San Francisco air-pollution board quietly made global warming history this week.

Jumping out ahead of federal and state regulators, it became the first government agency in the nation to impose fees on businesses that pump some of the highest levels of carbon dioxide into the air each year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

"The 15-1 vote by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District sets the stage for 2,500 companies and agencies - from supermarkets to gas stations to power plants - to pay 4.4 cents for every metric ton of carbon dioxide they expel, beginning July 1," the Chronicle reports "The top 10 companies combined would pay more than $820,000. The fee for a large share of businesses would be less than $1."

"Someone needs to take a first step, and we're running out of time, when you look at the bay rising 3 feet by 2100 and the devastating effects of climate change," said San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill, the air district chairman. "This is a more expensive proposition if we do nothing."

 

[AP Photo]

--Craig Pittman

Detroit to Schwarzenegger: You're winning, so let's talk

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who sued Detroit to force automakers to produce less polluting vehicles, sat down with executives from six automakers last week to discuss how they could work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting marked "a significant thaw" in the ongoing battle over California's attempt to battle global warming, noted the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Among the ideas they explored, according to the San Diego paper: "Automakers could sponsor more programs to take high-polluting older cars off the roads, help add synchronized traffic signals to limit idling times, incorporate more Global Positioning Systems that steer drivers away from choked traffic and encourage drivers to adopt more 'eco-friendly' habits – from regulating speed to keeping tires inflated."

The meeting -- which included executives from Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Chrysler, BMW and Volkswagen -- came at the request of the auto industry "which appeared to begin laying the groundwork to soften post-Bush regulations," the paper reported. All three presidential candidates have sided with California.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's attempt to impose similar regulations prodding automakers to clean up their products ran afoul of the Legislature this year. Lawmakers said Florida cannot borrow California's clean car standard without their approval.

--Craig Pittman

Scientists: Smog kills -- no matter what the White House says

Short-term exposure to current levels of ozone in many areas is likely to contribute to premature deaths, according to a new report from the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academies of Science.

"The findings contradict arguments made by some White House officials that the connection between smog and premature death has not been shown sufficiently, and that the number of saved lives should not be calculated in determining clean air benefits," the Associated Press is reporting.

Instead, the 13-member panel said, "studies have yielded strong evidence that short-term exposure to ozone can exacerbate lung conditions, causing illness and hospitalization and can potentially lead to death."

The Tampa Bay region suffers from high levels of ozone, particularly in Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

As the AP explains so well, "ground-level ozone is formed from nitrogen oxide and organic compounds created by burning fossil fuels and is demonstrated often by the yellow haze or smog that lingers in the air. Ozone exposure is a leading cause of respiratory illnesses and especially affects the elderly, those with respiratory problems and children."

The AP tried to get a response from the White House, but nobody was returning phone calls.

To read the National Academies news release about the study, click here. To read the full report, click here. To read the AP story, click here.

--Craig Pittman