May 15, 2008

Global Monitor (May 2008)

The sustainable city

Realization of a zero-carbon, zero-waste, and car-free city may seem futuristic—but it has already begun. In February 2008, the government of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates broke ground on Masdar City. The 2.3-square-mile district on Abu Dhabi’s outskirts (Figure 4)—which the Abu Dhabi government hopes will someday be occupied by 1,500 businesses and 50,000 residents—is entirely designed for sustainable living.

4. Zero-carbon city rising. An aerial view of Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates. Courtesy: Foster & Partners

Skylights and breezeways are incorporated into architectural designs, and the city aims to utilize only power from renewable sources. In addition to zero emissions, the city will rely on sustainable materials, food, and water. It will also house the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a graduate university dedicated to renewable energy. The $22 billion project will be built in seven phases and is expected to be completed and fully functioning by 2015.

Solar recharger for developing countries

Because they live in developing or emerging countries that cannot or do not set up a permanent power supply network, an estimated 1.6 billion people around the world still rely on traditional oil lamps to perform nightly tasks.

Around Lake Victoria in Kenya, about 30 million people stave off darkness by burning kerosene lamps. Not only is it harmful to their health, according to Siemens subsidiary and lighting manufacturer, OSRAM, burning kerosene for light emits 67 tons of CO₂ each year in Africa—almost equal to Finland’s annual CO₂ emissions. Globally, the figure swells to 190 million tons.

To alleviate this problem, OSRAM constructed an off-grid kiosk-like solar station called an “Energy Hub” (Figure 5). The project was piloted in Mbita, a small town on the banks of Lake Victoria, which is easily accessible by locals who need to charge electrical appliances such as rechargeable lamps and cell phones inexpensively. The project’s success has prompted OSRAM to open three more Energy Hubs in the region.

5. Power station. This solar-powered “Energy Hub” will allow Kenyans near Lake Victoria to recharge small electrical appliances and reduce their dependence on kerosene. Courtesy: OSRAM

Seeking CCS solutions

On a larger scale, the North American coal-fired generating industry has been scrambling for economically viable ways to retrofit existing infrastructure with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) solutions. Power producer TransAlta Corp. recently announced it will partner with technology developer Alstom on a project to develop an extensive CCS facility in Alberta, Canada. The company anticipates a reduction of CO₂ emissions from its coal-fired plants of 1 million tons per year.

Calgary-based TransAlta plans to pilot Alstom’s proprietary chilled ammonia process by 2012 at one of its coal-fired generating stations west of Edmonton. The first phase of the five-year project will begin this year. It aims to advance and improve understanding of CO₂ capture and storage technology. The overall project is expected to cost $12 million.

TransAlta has also partnered with experts at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy, part of the University of Calgary, to quantify CO₂ sequestration potential in the Wabamun area west of Edmonton. The results, due in January 2009, will provide a scientific assessment of potential sequestration sites in the area surrounding several power plants, including their capacity and security.

Alstom has signed contracts with several U.S. and European companies to test its CCS technologies. The first pilot project that uses chilled ammonia to capture CO₂ from coal-fueled power plants was launched in late February this year at We Energies’ 1,224-MW Pleasant Prairie Power Plant in Wisconsin (see POWER, February 2008, p. 38 for a technical description of the pilot process). The year-long demonstration project is a joint effort with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and We Energies. EPRI will conduct an engineering and environmental performance and cost analysis during the project. Alstom said that more than 20 organizations representing coal-fueled utilities in the U.S. are committed to project.