NORTH CAROLINA AND THE CHARLOTTE REGION

Charlotte to host wind-energy conference. A conference on wind energy along the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia coast is coming to Charlotte in March 2012. The Southeastern Coastal Wind Conference will be hosted by dozens of companies, state agencies and advocacy groups. Among them are Duke Energy, the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, Virginia Tech and Charlotte-based Nucor Steel. 

Latest news:

Dec. 28 2011: High efficiency concentrated solar cells. Semprius, a North Carolina firm based in Durham, broke ground on a manufacturing plant in Henderson, N.C. this year as a leader in the Sunshot incubator project. The plant is expected to start operating in 2012 with an initial capacity of 5MW, eventually growing to 35MW. The available project market for highly-concentrated photovoltaics. is expected to double or more each year over the next nine years, reaching greater than 10 gigawatts of power by 2020, according to Semprius CEO Joe Carr. link

December 2011: ACE – The Alliance for Climate Education, opened a permanent regional office in North Carolina  this fall!  ACE is a leading national organization that delivers free, exciting, science-based multimedia presentations on climate change (more) to high schools to high-school students.  This exciting & engaging presentation meets national science curriculum standards. ACE also provides free resources for schools, students and teachers. Bringing ACE to your school is simple- fill out this brief booking form.

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• Pollution in NC
• Fracking issue debated
  
• Solar and wind power
• Coal's impact in the state
  
• Coal Ash situation
• Nuclear Power
• Offshore oil drilling
• Other news and green schools in NC
  

April 2011: TVA settles NC pollution claims. The Tennessee Valley Authority has  agreed to close 18 coal-fired generators and install as much as $5 billion in pollution controls to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee, and will invest $350 million in clean-energy projects and pay $10 million in civil penalties. The federal utility will spend $350 million on clean-energy projects, including $11.2 million for North Carolina programs to promote energy efficiency and reduce demand for electricity. TVA will also pay a $10 million fine. The settlement goes beyond the terms of a federal judge's 2009 order that settled North Carolina's lawsuit against TVA. link  (more on TVA story) 

April 2011: Charlotte metro area smoggiest in eastern US. The Charlotte metro area will hold its rank as the smoggiest city in the East, even as its air grows cleaner. The American Lung Association annual rankings, based on ozone readings from 2007 to 2009, put the Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury metro area 10th-worst in the nation. That matches last year's position, despite a sign of cleaner air. Mecklenburg County last year finally met a smog standard set in 1997, the last N.C. county to do so.  (link – see page 13). 

October 2011: Envision Charlotte begins. Financed by Duke Energy and two corporate partners, Envision Charlotte is billed as the first effort of its type. The first phase of the energy-saving green initiative goes live today raising the consciousness of 82,000 uptown workers aiming to trim energy use in uptown office buildings 20% by 2016. It's technically simple, with little cost, to cut energy use in office buildings by 5%, says research compiled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Energy Efficiency Strategy Project. But it's harder to motivate changes in habit. Building owners may see no point in spending on energy upgrades that will save money only for tenants. Office workers don't pay for their electricity so have nothing at stake. Organizers hope the Prius effect - high regard for going green - will take hold uptown. Duke hopes to recoup part of its $4.1 million investment through a state-approved energy efficiency pilot program. The program lets Duke recover the costs, and lost revenues, associated with energy-saving measures by adding a fraction of a cent per kilowatt-hour to nonresidential customer bills. Charlotte Observer

November 2009: Pollution Up 39% in North Carolina since 1990: North Carolina’s global warming pollution increased by 39% since 1990, according to a new analysis of government data released by Environment North Carolina. Between 1990 and 2007, CO2 emissions from burning coal jumped 46.2%. North Carolina ranks 13th nationwide for the highest levels of global warming pollution. link

Fracking in North Carolina. (November 2011) Legislation passed early 2011 has moved North Carolina closer to producing shale gas, and directs the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to complete a study on the effects of hydraulic fracturing, often called “fracking,” by May, 2012.  A report by Duke University researchers offers several health and environmental measures for North Carolina lawmakers to consider as they debate legalizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. The study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum, looks at potential environmental hazards and how lawmakers in other states are factoring health and environmental risks into regulatory approaches targeting the natural gas extraction method.  ”If North Carolina legalizes shale gas extraction, we need to consider what’s worked best in other states and avoid what hasn’t,” said Rob Jackson, Nicholas professor of global environmental change at the Nicholas School of the Environment. “That’s the only way to get it right.” The study suggests seven measures to help avoid and mitigate any possible negative effects. More

N.C. landowners signing one-sided agreements with fracking companies - link
NC legislature eager to allow “fracking" - link

March 2011: NC’s renewable law repeal opposed by energy companies. The effort to repeal SB3, a landmark 2007 North Carolina law aimed at making utilities buy renewable energy, is going nowhere despite all the money poured into gutting it by climate change denialist Art Pope's John Locke Foundation. Pope and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity spent millions of dollars during last year's elections, winning the General Assembly for Republicans, and they want payback. But the state's biggest utilities, Progress Energy and Duke Power, are now standing in the way of repealing something they fought hard to stop four years ago. Here's why. The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association recently put out a 2010 “green energy census” identifying 12,500 green energy jobs in the state. Renewables are now a $3.5 billion industry in North Carolina, the report says. What's left for supporters of repeal is an ideological argument, or a climate change denial argument, against a business argument. Utilities are making money from renewable energy in North Carolina, and they like it.  link   [The solar component of renewables is 0.2% by 2021, and doesn't increase from 0.07% until 2015 which is an extraordinary low requirement for a state blessed with sunshine - link]

North Carolina’s legislature currently opposes wind turbines in the mountains. Wind power on just 5% of our ridges could create, conservatively, 800 MW of capacity. This figure represents two-thirds of North Carolina’s land-based wind potential, and 20% of the renewable energy required under North Carolina’s renewable energy standard.” link   June 2011: Governor Perdue issued an executive order creating a task force which is charged with assessing the costs and risks of growing an off-shore wind industry and is to report by March 2012. The shallow waters of the mid-Atlantic coast, including North Carolina, hold some of the nation's highest wind-energy potential, federal agencies have reported.

300MW Project Desert Wind Power.  Early May 2011, regulators approved an application by a U.S. subsidiary of Spanish power company Iberdrola to build a 300-megawatt wind farm at a cost of about $600 million in eastern North Carolina. If built, the wind farm located on 20,000 acres of scrubland, would be the first. This wind farm would be enough to power between 55,000 to 70,000 North Carolina homes with electricity. link (However, it’s probable that this energy will be sold to the Virginia market, not NC.) Update - December 2011: Iberdrola Renewable, the developer of the largest wind farm ever proposed in North Carolina says the project has stalled because no utility wants to buy the power the project would produce. link

September 2010: All NC energy could be met with offshore wind. A new report from Oceana says offshore wind could supply all NC energy requirements. The report says offshore wind could meet 100% of the electricity currently generated in NC, DE and MA. link

March  2010: New report - renewable energy could meet nearly all N.C. electricity needs.
A groundbreaking study finds solar, wind, and other renewable power sources could meet nearly all N.C. electricity needs and only six percent of electricity would have to be purchased from outside the system or produced at conventional plants. Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), explained why his center published the report. "This is a landmark case study of how solar and wind generation can be combined to provide round-the-clock electric power throughout the year. North Carolina utilities and regulators and those in other states should take this template, refine it, and make a renewable electricity future a reality." Dr. Makhijani is the author of Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy. link Also see:  Duke study finds renewable energy, including solar, wind and hydroelectric, can provide all but 6% of North Carolina's electricity. link   See also "Solar makes more sense in North Carolina".

200 Wilmington doctors oppose Titan Cement plant.  StopTitan.org was put together by a group of local citizens to provide information about Titan America's plans to build the 4th largest cement plant in the nation, along the banks of the Northeast Cape Fear River, just outside of Wilmington, NC. They oppose this cement plant, proposed by Titan, because of the impacts it will have on our coastal region.
(From Southern Environmental Law Center) Although $4.5m taxpayer dollars have been given to Titan America, the Perdue administration says it does not constitute an expenditure of public money, and also that a full environmental impact does not need to be conducted before North Carolina begins issuing permits for the plant despite mercury fears. (Building the plant would also destroy some 1,000 acres of wetlands) link
Grassroots action in Wilmington confronting the Titan Cement plant - 6-minute video - view here      

Duke Energy has 8 coal-fired plants in the Carolinas which produce 2.2 million tons of ash a year. Two-thirds of this is dumped into landfills and ponds. The Charlotte Observer reported in February 2008 that Duke was forced to close one site in 2008 because of groundwater contamination. As with the TVA spill on December 22, 2008 in Tennessee (see photo right), companies assure us there is no risk, and safety is a top concern, but state inspections are only required every five years, and a 2005 storm at the Cliffside plant in Rutherford County caused "major distress and erosion" requiring the dike to be raised by a foot.

State records show that arsenic, boron and selenium - all toxic in high concentrations - have been found at potentially unsafe levels in groundwater under Duke's ash basins. Duke says there is no evidence that water supplies have been harmed. Tests support that at Mountain Island. But until recently, groundwater has gotten little scrutiny. Unlined ash basins - Duke's plants have 14 - are the type most likely to pollute groundwater, according to another EPA study. Cancer risks from drinking groundwater tainted by arsenic from unlined basins are 900 times higher than the government says is acceptable.   

The dangers posed by coal ash are significant in North Carolina. High hazard risk means an impoundment will threaten human life if it ruptures. Many of the earthen dams holding back millions of gallons of coal sludge in North Carolina are in populated areas with homes and businesses that would be destroyed if they fail. Even without a structural failure, groundwater contamination from coal ash storage sites is already occurring in the state. 

According to Upper Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby’s review of the data, all thirteen of the tested coal ash ponds were found to be leaking toxic heavy metals and other pollutants into nearby groundwater, including but not limited to: arsenic, boron, cadmium, chloride, chromium, iron, lead, manganese, pH and sulfate. In all, the analysis found 681 instances where levels of pollutants were in excess, ranging from 1.1 to 380 times higher than North Carolina’s groundwater standard.

“The results of this data are very alarming, and we now know that some of these ponds have been leaking into the groundwater for years,” said Lisenby. “We intend to call for further oversight and clean up of coal ash pond waste to prevent additional heavy metals and other toxins from being released into our groundwater and rivers.”   link

There are three operating nuclear power plants in North Carolina. North Carolina’s nuclear capacity, which accounts for nearly 5% of the national total, ranks 6th among the 31 States that have operating commercial nuclear reactors. North Carolina’s nuclear capacity is nearly 20% of the State’s total capacity but still ranks third behind coal and natural gas. Nuclear generation accounts for roughly a third of North Carolina’s total generation, the other two-thirds coming from coal and natural gas. link    picture Shearon Harris Unit 1, 20 miles south-west of Raleigh

The looming nuclear nightmare in North Carolina. The Department of Homeland Security has fingered Shearon Harris as one of the most vulnerable terrorist targets in the nation. Shearon Harris is not just a nuclear power-generating station, but a repository for highly radioactive spent fuel rods from two other nuclear plants owned by Progress Energy creating the largest radioactive waste storage pools in the country. Because the water system that feeds the waste pools is also connected to the Shearon Harris reactor, a pool fire could also trigger a nuclear meltdown. A recent study by the Brookhaven Labs, not known to overstate nuclear risks, estimates that a pool fire could cause 140,000 cancers, contaminate thousands of square miles of land, and cause over $500 billion in off-site property damage. A waste pool fire could spread radioactive debris over a 500-mile radius, including Cesium-137, a carcinogen linked to birth defects and genetic damage. The plant has experienced numerous shit-downs and safety problems. link

                         The logic of drilling for oil off North Carolina's coast.

How much oil is off the Atlantic Coast? We really have no idea. The entire East Coast has been off limits from all drilling-related activity since 1981. That's the last time any data was collected on the area, using seismic equipment that's outdated compared to today's advanced methods. More accurate data is likely to lead to more accurate drilling and fewer "dry wells" that don't produce oil. But it could also revise downward how much we think is out there. The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimates there could be as much as 10 billion barrels of oil and natural gas in the mid- and south Atlantic. But that's only at a 5% level of confidence. Ask them what they're 95% confident of, and the estimate drops to fewer than 2 billion barrels, or about 100 days of oil at our current rate. So, not much. "We really don't know a lot about what's down there," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar admits. "It may be nothing, it may be a lot.  link
October 2008: Forty-five miles off Cape Hatteras, Chevron USA said a decade ago, lay a colossal gamble that sounds sweet today. The oil company reckoned only a 7% chance of striking oil or gas more than 11,000 feet under the sea floor. A federal official called the Manteo Exploration Unit, as the site is known, “a high-risk prospect with world-class potential.” And as a congressional ban on offshore exploration in the Atlantic expired last week, N.C. residents wracked by high energy prices are in a mood to drill.  But don't expect to see drill rigs anytime soon, experts say. “There's really been no activity off the (N.C.) coast since 1984,” said Roger Shew, a former Shell Oil geologist now at UNC Wilmington. “The fact of the matter is that this is all based on old data. ”Instruments today can more accurately probe the sea floor for rock formations that trap hydrocarbons."Oil company estimates of deposits off North Carolina could be overblown. Of 51 wells drilled elsewhere along the Atlantic coast in the 1970s and 1980s, none were commercially viable. Even when previously closed portions of the Outer Continental Shelf open, Shew said, oil companies are most likely to invest in the known reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. Even there, he said, too few drill rigs exist to explore every prospective site. “They are not going to take lightly coming up and poking some holes just to take a look,” he said. Any exploration would follow a lengthy process, including hearings and environmental studies, to issue leases. Federal law allows the governor to comment on drilling proposals, and the state can force drillers to comply with coastal-development regulations. The state used its clout to fight off oil companies in the 1980s and '90s, but political opposition to drilling is waning. 

Geologists estimates that the mid-Atlantic coast, including North Carolina, holds about 1.5 billion gallons of oil – enough to meet U.S. needs for a little more than two months. The estimated 15.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas would last about eight months. Kenneth Taylor, chief of the N.C. Geological Survey said, “Things that were not economically feasible then may be now.” Because the N.C. coast has no history of oil or gas production, the costs of building pipelines and storage tanks would have to be added to exploration and production expenses, said Taylor. Even then, Taylor added, there's no assurance that any oil or gas that's recovered would be sold in the United States. After sinking millions of dollars into exploration, permitting and drilling, he said, companies could ship the raw product to more lucrative markets such as China. Once they actually drill, if they hit it, none of it might come back to North Carolina.

Three Green Charlotte links:

              Energy Solutions

                                Greenpeace - Charlotte

                                                        GreenTimesCharlotte

Other news:

October 28 2011: Envision Charlotte begins. Financed by Duke Energy and two corporate partners, Envision Charlotte is billed as the first effort of its type. The first phase of the energy-saving green initiative goes live today raising the consciousness of 82,000 uptown workers aiming to trim energy use in uptown office buildings 20% by 2016. It's technically simple, with little cost, to cut energy use in office buildings by 5%, says research compiled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Energy Efficiency Strategy Project. But it's harder to motivate changes in habit. Building owners may see no point in spending on energy upgrades that will save money only for tenants. Office workers don't pay for their electricity so have nothing at stake. Organizers hope the Prius effect - high regard for going green - will take hold uptown. Duke hopes to recoup part of its $4.1 million investment through a state-approved energy efficiency pilot program. The program lets Duke recover the costs, and lost revenues, associated with energy-saving measures by adding a fraction of a cent per kilowatt-hour to nonresidential customer bills. Charlotte Observer

                     
October 2010: Award for University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Morrison Residence Hall on the campus of has won the first-ever EPA National Building Competition. The competition launched in April 2010, challenged teams from 14 buildings across the country to measure their energy use and work off the waste with help from EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. The Carolina team, the Watt-Busters, reduced energy use at Morrison Residence Hall by 36% in just one year, saved more than $250,000 on energy bills, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity use of nearly 90 homes for a year. link

Green schools in North Carolina.
Guilford Northern Middle School received the “Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR” graphic, distinguishing the design as one of the nation’s best in energy performance. If the project operates as intended and meets or exceeds EPA criteria for energy performance, the school may qualify to receive the ENERGY STAR label. The project will use cutting-edge techniques to achieve superior energy performance levels. Daylighting is the project’s primary sustainable strategy. In earlier projects, Innovative Design had used south-facing monitors and glazing to maximize winter solar gain. However, south-facing glazing can cause high glare. A new daylighting strategy uses south-facing clerestory windows but with 40% less glass to minimize glare. Throughout the year, daylighting will provide natural light at full-lighting levels to classrooms, administrative offices, the media center, the gymnasium, and the cafeteria during two-thirds of the school’s operating hours. Occupancy and photocell sensors will control indirect dimmable fluorescent fixtures and reduce electrical lighting consumption. To enhance the performance of the roof monitor daylighting strategy a white thermoplastic single-ply membrane to the flat roofs where the monitors sit, improving the monitors’ performance. These techniques will help reduce the size of the HVAC system, enhancing the overall efficiency of the school. Lower lighting and cooling needs are expected to reduce initial costs by $150,000 and, correspondingly, air conditioning by 70 tons.  You can read more about Guilford Northern Middle School in Greensboro here.