Automotive News -- July 26, 2010 - 12:01 am ET
Dave Guilford is enterprise editor of Automotive News.
When you look at the array of fuels that might one day power automobiles, some are no-brainers. And some are pretty iffy.
Because of their ubiquity, relative cheapness and energy density, gasoline and diesel fuel will be around. With major automakers planning electric vehicles, some recharging stations will appear. The outlook for hydrogen and compressed natural gas, at least for now, is unclear.
What might surprise us, though, is biofuel -- a broad term for fuels derived from renewable resources such as plants.
Despite minimal consumer use of corn-based E85 so far, General Motors Co. is doubling down on biofuels. Researcher J. Gary Smyth told a conference this month that ramping up biofuels is "a major opportunity for the future."
Smyth, executive director of GM's North American science labs, said second-generation biofuels will be economical, won't deplete food crops and will lower vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide. Sources will include wood waste, grasses and municipal and industrial wastes.
In the long term, Smyth said, biofuels can compete with gasoline -- without a subsidy. GM is pushing to accelerate commercialization, entering strategic alliances with two startups, Coskata Inc. and Mascoma Corp.
Said Smyth: "We have to figure out how to maximize biomass in our energy policy because I believe it has a huge potential."
Obviously, it's not GM's only bet -- witness the Chevrolet Volt, in particular. But GM has some chips down on biofuels.
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Wind Turbine Design Could Potentially Generate 20 Megawatts
Posted on: Monday, 26 July 2010, 11:45 CDT
A sycamore seed design may soon be revolutionizing the wind power industry, according to a recent report by the UK's Dailymail online.
British engineers are designing a giant wind turbine that would rotate on its axis and measure nearly 900 feet from tip to tip, generating up to 10 megawatts of power.
Engineering firm Wind Power Limited is developing the Aerogenerator, along with architects at Grimshaw, academics at Cranfield University and Rolls Royce, Arup, BP and Shell.
According to those behind the design, the turbines could generate 20MW or more of power.
Engineers are now looking at ways of adapting the design to make them more efficient because of the extreme weight gained after scaling up the diameter of the turbine.
The Aerogenerator has two arms coming out of its base to form a V-shape, with rigid "sails" mounted along their length. The arms act like aerofoils as the wind passes over, helping to generate lift.
The first Aerogenerator could be up and running by 2013.
Other firms are also trying to create a new type of wind turbine that generates up to 10MW of power. Clipper, another wind power firm, has already announced plans to build the giant Britannia wind turbines that could rise 600 feet above the North Sea.
Feargal Brennan, head of offshore engineering at Cranfield University, told the news agency: "Upsizing conventional onshore wind turbine technology to overcome cost barriers has significant challenges, not least the weight of the blades, which experience a fully reversed fatigue cycle on each rotation."
"As the blades turn, their weight always pulls downwards, putting a changing stress on the structure, in a cycle that repeats with every rotation – up to 20 times a minute."
"In order to reduce the fatigue stress, the blade sections and thicknesses are increased which further increases the blade self-weight. These issues continue throughout the device."
"Drive-train mountings must be stiff enough to support the heavier components inside the nacelle on top of the tower, otherwise the systems can become misaligned and the support structure is also exposed to extremely large dynamic thrust and bending stresses, which are amplified significantly with any increase in water depth.’"
Offshore power is seen as a more acceptable option for renewable energy than land-based turbines.
Theo Bird of Wind Power Limited told the news agency: "Offshore is the ideal place for wind power but is also an extremely tough environment."
"The US wind researchers who worked on vertical axis projects have always regarded the technology as great to work with at sea because it can be big, tough and easily managed."
Huhne said a boom in onshore and offshore wind turbines is needed in order to help the country meet its target of having 15 percent renewable energy sources by 2020.
He also said that plans for hundreds more wind farms could be pushed through.
Britain has 253 onshore wind farms and 12 offshore developments.
Huhne told the Dailymail on Sunday that there was "no money" for the state to subsidize new nuclear power.
He said the Dogger Bank area off the east coast of Yorkshire was a prime location to build new offshore turbines.
"It's relatively cheap to put turbines in that shallow area," he added.
Huhne also said it would be "quite a stretch" for Britain to rely on renewable sources.
However, it had to become more independent in its energy production so it could to withstand "shocks from the outside world," which could send prices soaring.
He said "It implies we would be building an awful lot of turbines around our coasts."
A sycamore seed design may soon be revolutionizing the wind power industry, according to a recent report by the UK's Dailymail online.
British engineers are designing a giant wind turbine that would rotate on its axis and measure nearly 900 feet from tip to tip, generating up to 10 megawatts of power.
Engineering firm Wind Power Limited is developing the Aerogenerator, along with architects at Grimshaw, academics at Cranfield University and Rolls Royce, Arup, BP and Shell.
According to those behind the design, the turbines could generate 20MW or more of power.
Engineers are now looking at ways of adapting the design to make them more efficient because of the extreme weight gained after scaling up the diameter of the turbine.
The Aerogenerator has two arms coming out of its base to form a V-shape, with rigid "sails" mounted along their length. The arms act like aerofoils as the wind passes over, helping to generate lift.
The first Aerogenerator could be up and running by 2013.
Other firms are also trying to create a new type of wind turbine that generates up to 10MW of power. Clipper, another wind power firm, has already announced plans to build the giant Britannia wind turbines that could rise 600 feet above the North Sea.
Feargal Brennan, head of offshore engineering at Cranfield University, told the news agency: "Upsizing conventional onshore wind turbine technology to overcome cost barriers has significant challenges, not least the weight of the blades, which experience a fully reversed fatigue cycle on each rotation."
"As the blades turn, their weight always pulls downwards, putting a changing stress on the structure, in a cycle that repeats with every rotation – up to 20 times a minute."
"In order to reduce the fatigue stress, the blade sections and thicknesses are increased which further increases the blade self-weight. These issues continue throughout the device."
"Drive-train mountings must be stiff enough to support the heavier components inside the nacelle on top of the tower, otherwise the systems can become misaligned and the support structure is also exposed to extremely large dynamic thrust and bending stresses, which are amplified significantly with any increase in water depth.’"
Offshore power is seen as a more acceptable option for renewable energy than land-based turbines.
Theo Bird of Wind Power Limited told the news agency: "Offshore is the ideal place for wind power but is also an extremely tough environment."
"The US wind researchers who worked on vertical axis projects have always regarded the technology as great to work with at sea because it can be big, tough and easily managed."
Huhne said a boom in onshore and offshore wind turbines is needed in order to help the country meet its target of having 15 percent renewable energy sources by 2020.
He also said that plans for hundreds more wind farms could be pushed through.
Britain has 253 onshore wind farms and 12 offshore developments.
Huhne told the Dailymail on Sunday that there was "no money" for the state to subsidize new nuclear power.
He said the Dogger Bank area off the east coast of Yorkshire was a prime location to build new offshore turbines.
"It's relatively cheap to put turbines in that shallow area," he added.
Huhne also said it would be "quite a stretch" for Britain to rely on renewable sources.
However, it had to become more independent in its energy production so it could to withstand "shocks from the outside world," which could send prices soaring.
He said "It implies we would be building an awful lot of turbines around our coasts."
Tenaska Chooses Fluor Carbon Capture Technology
Trailblazer Energy Center Will Use Econamine FG Plus at Pioneering Plant
SWEETWATER, Texas, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Tenaska has chosen Fluor Corporation's Econamine FG Plus(SM) carbon capture technology for use in its proposed Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center, being developed near Sweetwater.
Trailblazer will be a pioneering 600-megawatt (net) electricity generating plant fueled by pulverized coal and is expected to be among the first full-scale commercial power plants in the nation, and the first in Texas, to capture 85 to 90 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct, sending it via pipeline to the Permian Basin to be used in enhanced oil recovery.
Based on the projected rate of capture, the plant will emit significantly less CO2 than an equivalent capacity natural gas-fueled plant.
Econamine FG Plus(SM) is a Fluor (NYSE: FLR) proprietary, amine-based technology for large-scale, post-combustion CO2 capture. The technology is one of the first and among the most widely applied commercial solutions proven in operating environments to remove CO2 from high-oxygen content flue gases.
"Fluor's Econamine FG Plus(SM) technology has been licensed at commercial scale in 26 industrial plants worldwide, including three in the United States," said Michael Lebens, president of Tenaska's Engineering & Operations Group. "The combination of Fluor's expertise with the technology and its 20 years of experience in practical applications makes it the best choice for use at Trailblazer."
Tenaska's initial design and engineering work for Trailblazer also is being performed by Fluor, the project's engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Fluor, based in Irving, Texas, designs, builds and maintains many of the world's most challenging and complex projects.
Dave Dunning, president of Fluor's Power Group, said the company is pleased that its technology has been chosen for the Trailblazer project. "Trailblazer represents an innovative environmental breakthrough in clean energy production that will have positive implications worldwide," he said. "Fluor is eager to move forward and begin building this important new energy source for Tenaska and Texas."
Trailblazer will generate more than $740 million in Nolan County economic impact during construction and during operation will provide more than 100 direct well-paying permanent jobs, plus an estimated 70 secondary jobs from increased local spending. In addition, the captured CO2 used in enhanced oil recovery will add more than 10 million barrels of oil production annually to the West Texas economy.
Arch Coal, Inc. has a 35 percent equity interest in the project and will supply the coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.
Tenaska recently completed an administrative hearing on its application for a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) air quality permit, and expects to have a final permit by the end of this year.
About Tenaska
Tenaska has developed approximately 9,000 megawatts (MW) of electric generating capacity across the United States. Tenaska's affiliates operate and manage eight power plants in six states totaling more than 6,700 MW of generating capacity owned in partnership with other companies. Tenaska Capital Management, an affiliate, provides management services for stand-alone private equity funds, with nearly $5 billion in assets, including nine power plants (with approximately 5,400 MW of capacity) and multiple natural gas midstream assets, including gas storage, gathering and processing facilities.
Tenaska is applying proven pre- and post-combustion technologies on a commercial scale in its two environmentally friendly clean coal projects. In addition to the Taylorville Energy Center in Taylorville, Ill., Trailblazer Energy Center in Nolan County, Texas, is expected to be the first commercial scale, conventional coal-fueled power plant in the world to capture a significant portion of its CO2. This plant's success would demonstrate how existing plants in the U.S. and China could be retrofitted cost-effectively with this carbon-reducing technology. Tenaska was recently listed in benchmarking studies by the Natural Resources Defense Council as having among the very best fleet-wide records in the United States for controlling emissions. For more information about Tenaska, visit www.tenaska.com
About Fluor Corporation
Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) designs, builds and maintains many of the world's most challenging and complex projects. Through its global network of offices on six continents, the company provides comprehensive capabilities and world-class expertise in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations, and maintenance and project management. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Fluor is a FORTUNE 150 company and had revenues of $22 billion in 2009. For more information, visit www.fluor.com.
SOURCE Tenaska
SWEETWATER, Texas, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Tenaska has chosen Fluor Corporation's Econamine FG Plus(SM) carbon capture technology for use in its proposed Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center, being developed near Sweetwater.
Trailblazer will be a pioneering 600-megawatt (net) electricity generating plant fueled by pulverized coal and is expected to be among the first full-scale commercial power plants in the nation, and the first in Texas, to capture 85 to 90 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct, sending it via pipeline to the Permian Basin to be used in enhanced oil recovery.
Based on the projected rate of capture, the plant will emit significantly less CO2 than an equivalent capacity natural gas-fueled plant.
Econamine FG Plus(SM) is a Fluor (NYSE: FLR) proprietary, amine-based technology for large-scale, post-combustion CO2 capture. The technology is one of the first and among the most widely applied commercial solutions proven in operating environments to remove CO2 from high-oxygen content flue gases.
"Fluor's Econamine FG Plus(SM) technology has been licensed at commercial scale in 26 industrial plants worldwide, including three in the United States," said Michael Lebens, president of Tenaska's Engineering & Operations Group. "The combination of Fluor's expertise with the technology and its 20 years of experience in practical applications makes it the best choice for use at Trailblazer."
Tenaska's initial design and engineering work for Trailblazer also is being performed by Fluor, the project's engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Fluor, based in Irving, Texas, designs, builds and maintains many of the world's most challenging and complex projects.
Dave Dunning, president of Fluor's Power Group, said the company is pleased that its technology has been chosen for the Trailblazer project. "Trailblazer represents an innovative environmental breakthrough in clean energy production that will have positive implications worldwide," he said. "Fluor is eager to move forward and begin building this important new energy source for Tenaska and Texas."
Trailblazer will generate more than $740 million in Nolan County economic impact during construction and during operation will provide more than 100 direct well-paying permanent jobs, plus an estimated 70 secondary jobs from increased local spending. In addition, the captured CO2 used in enhanced oil recovery will add more than 10 million barrels of oil production annually to the West Texas economy.
Arch Coal, Inc. has a 35 percent equity interest in the project and will supply the coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.
Tenaska recently completed an administrative hearing on its application for a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) air quality permit, and expects to have a final permit by the end of this year.
About Tenaska
Tenaska has developed approximately 9,000 megawatts (MW) of electric generating capacity across the United States. Tenaska's affiliates operate and manage eight power plants in six states totaling more than 6,700 MW of generating capacity owned in partnership with other companies. Tenaska Capital Management, an affiliate, provides management services for stand-alone private equity funds, with nearly $5 billion in assets, including nine power plants (with approximately 5,400 MW of capacity) and multiple natural gas midstream assets, including gas storage, gathering and processing facilities.
Tenaska is applying proven pre- and post-combustion technologies on a commercial scale in its two environmentally friendly clean coal projects. In addition to the Taylorville Energy Center in Taylorville, Ill., Trailblazer Energy Center in Nolan County, Texas, is expected to be the first commercial scale, conventional coal-fueled power plant in the world to capture a significant portion of its CO2. This plant's success would demonstrate how existing plants in the U.S. and China could be retrofitted cost-effectively with this carbon-reducing technology. Tenaska was recently listed in benchmarking studies by the Natural Resources Defense Council as having among the very best fleet-wide records in the United States for controlling emissions. For more information about Tenaska, visit www.tenaska.com
About Fluor Corporation
Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) designs, builds and maintains many of the world's most challenging and complex projects. Through its global network of offices on six continents, the company provides comprehensive capabilities and world-class expertise in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations, and maintenance and project management. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Fluor is a FORTUNE 150 company and had revenues of $22 billion in 2009. For more information, visit www.fluor.com.
SOURCE Tenaska
Offshore wind needs £10bn to avoid missing green targets
By Sarah Arnott
Monday, 26 July 2010
Britain's offshore wind ambitions will face a £10bn funding gap within five years, energy experts will warn today, and the Government's legally-binding 2020 green targets will not be met unless the deficit can be closed.
This comes a day after Energy Minister Chris Huhne revealed plans for a huge expansion of the UK's wind turbines, saying wind power would be an "important part" of meeting the country's energy demands in the future.
A whopping £30bn of capital investment in offshore wind farms is needed over the coming decade if the UK is to produce the 30 per cent of electricity from renewable sources needed to comply with European regulations, according to the report from consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The number dwarfs current levels of investment, which run at around £8bn a year for all the utilities and National Grid combined. Given that the average offshore wind farm takes more than three years to construct, the £3bn annual investment requirement creates a capex exposure of £10bn by 2015.
"A massive injection of money is needed," Michael Hurley, head of energy at PwC, said. "We need a radical new plan to deal with what is going to be one of the biggest issues facing the Government in the aftermath of the departmental spending review [this autumn]."
The problem is that the money cannot come from the cash-strapped government. And with just £2bn of capital, the coalition government's planned Green Investment Bank will neither have sufficient funds to solve the problem nor have the remit to solve the problems in the design of the market.
Trickier still, the risks associated with offshore wind farms – both in terms of the construction process and the unpredictable power price – are putting off the companies that might build them, and the financiers that might help them raise the money.
"The real issue is the ramp-up required to meet the 2020 target is very, very significant," Mr Hurley said. "Business as usual simply will not work."
There are a variety of options available to the Government to help spur investment in offshore wind, says PwC. The simplest – already adopted in parts of the United States – is to add a flat levy to customer bills, to be spelled out separately from existing standing and usage charges. It is difficult to estimate the size of such a levy.
A more complex version of the same principle is to put the provision of offshore infrastructure within the existing, regulated estate of National Grid, thus leaving the fundraising to a single corporate entity. But the move is unlikely to prove popular with the company because it would leave it over-exposed to the massive construction risks associated with offshore wind.
Alternatively, the Government could approach the problem by raising the returns of the investment, by boosting the number of Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROCs) – the system already in place to reward green generation – associated with offshore wind.
Whatever strategy is pursued has to appeal to utilities and potential financial backers – ideally either pension funds or Individual Savings Account (ISA) holders, says PwC. "You may have an economic mechanism that works but [you] still have to get someone to finance it," Mr Hurley said. "The key is to make it attractive to pension funds, so it has to be simple."
The offshore wind industry is more bullish. Although Renewable UK supports the call for improved regulation, the lobby group denies that without such changes, the money will not be found. "The sums are huge and the structure of finance deals does not need a whole new approach," Maria McCaffery, the chief executive, said. "But the number of international investors beating a path to our door suggests a healthy level of interest."
There are 253 wind farms already in the UK, and 12 offshore. Mr Huhne this weekend identified Dogger Bank in the North Sea as the potential site for an offshore wind project.
Monday, 26 July 2010
Britain's offshore wind ambitions will face a £10bn funding gap within five years, energy experts will warn today, and the Government's legally-binding 2020 green targets will not be met unless the deficit can be closed.
This comes a day after Energy Minister Chris Huhne revealed plans for a huge expansion of the UK's wind turbines, saying wind power would be an "important part" of meeting the country's energy demands in the future.
A whopping £30bn of capital investment in offshore wind farms is needed over the coming decade if the UK is to produce the 30 per cent of electricity from renewable sources needed to comply with European regulations, according to the report from consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The number dwarfs current levels of investment, which run at around £8bn a year for all the utilities and National Grid combined. Given that the average offshore wind farm takes more than three years to construct, the £3bn annual investment requirement creates a capex exposure of £10bn by 2015.
"A massive injection of money is needed," Michael Hurley, head of energy at PwC, said. "We need a radical new plan to deal with what is going to be one of the biggest issues facing the Government in the aftermath of the departmental spending review [this autumn]."
The problem is that the money cannot come from the cash-strapped government. And with just £2bn of capital, the coalition government's planned Green Investment Bank will neither have sufficient funds to solve the problem nor have the remit to solve the problems in the design of the market.
Trickier still, the risks associated with offshore wind farms – both in terms of the construction process and the unpredictable power price – are putting off the companies that might build them, and the financiers that might help them raise the money.
"The real issue is the ramp-up required to meet the 2020 target is very, very significant," Mr Hurley said. "Business as usual simply will not work."
There are a variety of options available to the Government to help spur investment in offshore wind, says PwC. The simplest – already adopted in parts of the United States – is to add a flat levy to customer bills, to be spelled out separately from existing standing and usage charges. It is difficult to estimate the size of such a levy.
A more complex version of the same principle is to put the provision of offshore infrastructure within the existing, regulated estate of National Grid, thus leaving the fundraising to a single corporate entity. But the move is unlikely to prove popular with the company because it would leave it over-exposed to the massive construction risks associated with offshore wind.
Alternatively, the Government could approach the problem by raising the returns of the investment, by boosting the number of Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROCs) – the system already in place to reward green generation – associated with offshore wind.
Whatever strategy is pursued has to appeal to utilities and potential financial backers – ideally either pension funds or Individual Savings Account (ISA) holders, says PwC. "You may have an economic mechanism that works but [you] still have to get someone to finance it," Mr Hurley said. "The key is to make it attractive to pension funds, so it has to be simple."
The offshore wind industry is more bullish. Although Renewable UK supports the call for improved regulation, the lobby group denies that without such changes, the money will not be found. "The sums are huge and the structure of finance deals does not need a whole new approach," Maria McCaffery, the chief executive, said. "But the number of international investors beating a path to our door suggests a healthy level of interest."
There are 253 wind farms already in the UK, and 12 offshore. Mr Huhne this weekend identified Dogger Bank in the North Sea as the potential site for an offshore wind project.
Why RBS should be turned into the Royal Bank of Sustainability
New research suggests ministers could give a welcome boost to its environmental goals by reinventing RBS as a green investment bank
Ruth Sunderland The Observer, Sunday 25 July 2010
The coalition has promised to reform the banks, and it also wants to be the greenest government ever. Laudable goals – and research published tomorrow by former PricewaterhouseCoopers consultant James Leaton and economist Howard Reed suggests ministers could kill two birds with one stone by re-inventing RBS as the Green Investment Bank, or the Royal Bank of Sustainability (to keep the initials and save on a rebrand).
The report, to which I have contributed a short introduction, argues that if a green investment bank could deliver the potential of the low-carbon economy, it would create 50,000 jobs a year, helping pull the UK out of the slump and generating exports.
But this is unlikely if the Green Investment Bank is seen as a fringe operator rather than a serious institution. The idea of bringing together banking reform and the green growth agenda through RBS has a number of attractions, including harnessing its expertise in financing renewables; it has been particularly active in the offshore wind sector. Another advantage is the bank's strong position in the small- and medium-sized firms market, likely to be the source of much innovation in the low-carbon sector. RBS would also be in a good position to act as a distributor and promoter of green Isas, for customers who want their savings to support environmentally friendly projects.
Despite its large stakeholding, neither the Labour government nor the coalition has managed to prevent RBS from operating in ways which are arguably detrimental to the environment and the wider economy. The bank acted as a financial backer to Kraft in its controversial takeover of Cadbury, regardless of the fact that bid caused job losses in the UK; it continues to finance companies engaged in tar sands extraction, and it still pays large bonuses to some employees, notwithstanding public revulsion.
But whatever the view in Whitehall on this research, there are questions to answer about how the activities of RBS are aligned with taxpayers' interests – or not.
Ruth Sunderland The Observer, Sunday 25 July 2010
The coalition has promised to reform the banks, and it also wants to be the greenest government ever. Laudable goals – and research published tomorrow by former PricewaterhouseCoopers consultant James Leaton and economist Howard Reed suggests ministers could kill two birds with one stone by re-inventing RBS as the Green Investment Bank, or the Royal Bank of Sustainability (to keep the initials and save on a rebrand).
The report, to which I have contributed a short introduction, argues that if a green investment bank could deliver the potential of the low-carbon economy, it would create 50,000 jobs a year, helping pull the UK out of the slump and generating exports.
But this is unlikely if the Green Investment Bank is seen as a fringe operator rather than a serious institution. The idea of bringing together banking reform and the green growth agenda through RBS has a number of attractions, including harnessing its expertise in financing renewables; it has been particularly active in the offshore wind sector. Another advantage is the bank's strong position in the small- and medium-sized firms market, likely to be the source of much innovation in the low-carbon sector. RBS would also be in a good position to act as a distributor and promoter of green Isas, for customers who want their savings to support environmentally friendly projects.
Despite its large stakeholding, neither the Labour government nor the coalition has managed to prevent RBS from operating in ways which are arguably detrimental to the environment and the wider economy. The bank acted as a financial backer to Kraft in its controversial takeover of Cadbury, regardless of the fact that bid caused job losses in the UK; it continues to finance companies engaged in tar sands extraction, and it still pays large bonuses to some employees, notwithstanding public revulsion.
But whatever the view in Whitehall on this research, there are questions to answer about how the activities of RBS are aligned with taxpayers' interests – or not.
Empire State Building: Can the tallest be the greenest?
$13m refit aims to cut building's energy use by 40% and save emissions equal to 20,000 cars
Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk, Monday 26 July 2010 21.41 BST
When the Empire State Building was opened on 1 May 1931, having been designed in two weeks and built in an astonishing 15 months, it instantly became a symbol of human fortitude in the face of the Great Depression.
Now its current owners are attempting to reinvent it for the modern era by turning it into a green building symbolising human ingenuity in the face of inertia.
Its owners today unveiled new, environmentally friendly plans for the art deco building that stands on Manhattan's 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. By the end of this year, most of the work will have been completed in a $13m (£8.4m) investment designed to improve its energy efficiency, with the larger aim of providing a model that could spread across America and around the world.
For more than four decades, the Empire State had the distinction of being the tallest building in the world, a title it lost to the World Trade Centre in 1972. After the twin towers were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, it once again became the city's tallest building, at 1,454 ft (443 metres) to the tip of its lightning rod.
But by 2006, when it was bought by Malkin Holdings, it had fallen into disrepair, a pale reflection of its former glory. Its 102 storeys were occupied largely by small businesses paying low rents, and the overall structure had a hangdog feel.
"When we took control of it, the place needed to be fixed. It was broken," Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, told the Guardian.
Now the company is in the midst of a $550m renovation designed to put the building back on the map, part of which is the environmental project.
"We're doing this [making the Empire State greener] not because it's the right thing to do, but because it makes business sense. If we don't reduce our energy consumption, we will lose money and be less competitive against China, India, Brazil and the other expanding economies," Malkin said.
The makeover is expected to cut the building's energy use by almost 40%, reducing bills by more than $4m and paying back the cost of the refit in three years. That's a figure that is relevant not just to the Empire State but to the whole of New York city and other large metropolises like it.
Almost 80% of New York's energy consumption is through its buildings, mainly in the larger of the leaky older structures. Though politicians have tended to focus on energy consumption by individuals and tried to persuade families to cut their energy use at home, Malkin said the renovation of the Empire State Building would achieve savings in carbon emissions on a similar scale to comparable moves by 40,000 households.
The Empire State's retrofit will cut its carbon footprint by more than 100,000 metric tonnes over the next 15 years, the equivalent of taking 20,000 cars off the road. If that record were replicated by just a fifth of the largest buildings in America, it would save 2.3bn metric tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent to the amount of greenhouse gas pollution produced by the whole of Russia each year.
At its most simple, the retrofit involves stripping out each of the Empire State's 6,514 windows and renovating them with an insulating film and a mixture of inert gases to make them four times more efficient at retaining heat or coolness.
At the high-tech end, the largest wireless network ever to be applied to a single building has been set up across the Empire State that allows valves and vents to be monitored and centrally controlled. Four central chillers have been replaced and smart air circulation systems have also been put in as a low-energy means of heating the building in winter and cooling it in summer.
Paul Rode of Johnson Controls, an energy management company that is leading the project, said the greatest energy savings have involved persuading the 300 tenants to use their spaces more effectively. As the occupants of the second largest office complex in America, after the Pentagon, much of the onus for change falls on them.
Each company renting space in the Empire State now has access to a website that records minute by minute how much they are spending on energy and compares it with other tenants in the building as well as to competitors in their industries externally.
Having revealed to the tenants their own consumption, the website then advises them what they can do to cut their bills by making basic changes, such as moving desks towards the centre of the building to release daylight into the space, switching lights off at night, or cutting back on air conditioning.
"We're showing what's possible without even installing a single solar panel, or a wind turbine or a geothermal unit, and you don't need additional grid capacity or any new power plants," Malkin said.
"This is low-hanging fruit that can be plucked easily and we should be getting on with it as quickly as possible."
A giant's highs and lows
• Constructed during the depression in 1930, the 102-storey tower was made from 60,000 tonnes of steel, and has 6,500 windows.
• In 1945 an Army Air Corps B-25 twin-engine bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the building in dense fog, killing 14 people.
• The building's mast (now the base of the TV tower) was originally designed as a mooring mast for airships, pictured. Because of several unsuccessful attempts and volatile wind conditions at 1,350ft, the idea was abandoned.
• The Observatory on the 86th floor opened in 1931 and was immortalised in An Affair to Remember (1957) starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr and then as the meeting point for Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
• The building is struck by lightning about 100 times a year. It acts as a lightning rod for the surrounding area
Source: Empire State Building Company
Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk, Monday 26 July 2010 21.41 BST
When the Empire State Building was opened on 1 May 1931, having been designed in two weeks and built in an astonishing 15 months, it instantly became a symbol of human fortitude in the face of the Great Depression.
Now its current owners are attempting to reinvent it for the modern era by turning it into a green building symbolising human ingenuity in the face of inertia.
Its owners today unveiled new, environmentally friendly plans for the art deco building that stands on Manhattan's 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. By the end of this year, most of the work will have been completed in a $13m (£8.4m) investment designed to improve its energy efficiency, with the larger aim of providing a model that could spread across America and around the world.
For more than four decades, the Empire State had the distinction of being the tallest building in the world, a title it lost to the World Trade Centre in 1972. After the twin towers were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, it once again became the city's tallest building, at 1,454 ft (443 metres) to the tip of its lightning rod.
But by 2006, when it was bought by Malkin Holdings, it had fallen into disrepair, a pale reflection of its former glory. Its 102 storeys were occupied largely by small businesses paying low rents, and the overall structure had a hangdog feel.
"When we took control of it, the place needed to be fixed. It was broken," Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, told the Guardian.
Now the company is in the midst of a $550m renovation designed to put the building back on the map, part of which is the environmental project.
"We're doing this [making the Empire State greener] not because it's the right thing to do, but because it makes business sense. If we don't reduce our energy consumption, we will lose money and be less competitive against China, India, Brazil and the other expanding economies," Malkin said.
The makeover is expected to cut the building's energy use by almost 40%, reducing bills by more than $4m and paying back the cost of the refit in three years. That's a figure that is relevant not just to the Empire State but to the whole of New York city and other large metropolises like it.
Almost 80% of New York's energy consumption is through its buildings, mainly in the larger of the leaky older structures. Though politicians have tended to focus on energy consumption by individuals and tried to persuade families to cut their energy use at home, Malkin said the renovation of the Empire State Building would achieve savings in carbon emissions on a similar scale to comparable moves by 40,000 households.
The Empire State's retrofit will cut its carbon footprint by more than 100,000 metric tonnes over the next 15 years, the equivalent of taking 20,000 cars off the road. If that record were replicated by just a fifth of the largest buildings in America, it would save 2.3bn metric tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent to the amount of greenhouse gas pollution produced by the whole of Russia each year.
At its most simple, the retrofit involves stripping out each of the Empire State's 6,514 windows and renovating them with an insulating film and a mixture of inert gases to make them four times more efficient at retaining heat or coolness.
At the high-tech end, the largest wireless network ever to be applied to a single building has been set up across the Empire State that allows valves and vents to be monitored and centrally controlled. Four central chillers have been replaced and smart air circulation systems have also been put in as a low-energy means of heating the building in winter and cooling it in summer.
Paul Rode of Johnson Controls, an energy management company that is leading the project, said the greatest energy savings have involved persuading the 300 tenants to use their spaces more effectively. As the occupants of the second largest office complex in America, after the Pentagon, much of the onus for change falls on them.
Each company renting space in the Empire State now has access to a website that records minute by minute how much they are spending on energy and compares it with other tenants in the building as well as to competitors in their industries externally.
Having revealed to the tenants their own consumption, the website then advises them what they can do to cut their bills by making basic changes, such as moving desks towards the centre of the building to release daylight into the space, switching lights off at night, or cutting back on air conditioning.
"We're showing what's possible without even installing a single solar panel, or a wind turbine or a geothermal unit, and you don't need additional grid capacity or any new power plants," Malkin said.
"This is low-hanging fruit that can be plucked easily and we should be getting on with it as quickly as possible."
A giant's highs and lows
• Constructed during the depression in 1930, the 102-storey tower was made from 60,000 tonnes of steel, and has 6,500 windows.
• In 1945 an Army Air Corps B-25 twin-engine bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the building in dense fog, killing 14 people.
• The building's mast (now the base of the TV tower) was originally designed as a mooring mast for airships, pictured. Because of several unsuccessful attempts and volatile wind conditions at 1,350ft, the idea was abandoned.
• The Observatory on the 86th floor opened in 1931 and was immortalised in An Affair to Remember (1957) starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr and then as the meeting point for Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
• The building is struck by lightning about 100 times a year. It acts as a lightning rod for the surrounding area
Source: Empire State Building Company
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