Building For The Future

Construction firms that adopt greener strategies aren't just helping the environment - they're cutting costs and edging out competition

The UK's largest construction firms have offered a glimmer of hope to subcontractors striving to beat the recession. In a shrinking market where competition is fierce, new research from NetRegs.gov.uk shows that 95 per cent of large firms will give preference to subcontractors who can prove their green credentials.

The survey shows that during a time of oversupply, large firms with a turnover in excess of £10 million will increasingly use a subcontractor's environmental credentials as a key factor when deciding how to award contracts.

The results also highlighted that 87 per cent of large construction firms have more confidence in subcontractors with proven green credentials: 76 per cent of them citing a reduced risk of prosecution. In addition, over half of respondents (56 per cent) think green policies will save subcontractors money - a welcome bonus in these tough economic times. A staggering 93 per cent of construction industry bosses also think that proof of environmental responsibility will move up their firm's agenda over the next two years.

For a clearer picture of how adopting positive environmental practices can boost the fortunes of your own business, click on the link below to watch a video report with comment from ED Mitchell, Head of Business Performance and Regulation for the Environment Agency. Whilst Stuart Rowe, Contracts Executive, from contractor Ellmer Construction Ltd and Bill O'Connor, Director at sub-contractor Beckdene discuss the changes they have made to their waste management in recent times to improve their green credentials.

You can watch the video here: mms://groovyg.edgestreams.net/groovyg/clients/Markettiers4dc/videofeature/12817/12817_netregs_vf_169_v2_169_500kbps001.wmv

Smarter wind technology looks to improve turbine workrate

Clean, renewable energy is freely available – in the form of wind, sun and water. However, harnessing it reliably and cost-effectively remains a barrier. Wind power is one of the fastest growing alternative energy markets and researchers at Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratories in West Lafayette, Indiana, are working to make wind turbines more efficient, reliable and resilient.

They are using sensors and computational software that constantly monitor forces exerted on wind turbine blades with the aim of developing a smarter wind turbine structure.
Improving reliability and resilience

"Our aim is to do two things: improve reliability and prevent failure. The most direct way to enable those two capabilities is by monitoring forces exerted on the blades by winds," says Douglas Adams, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of Purdue's Center for Systems Integrity.

According to doctoral student Jonathan White, who is working on the project with Adams, “the ultimate goal is to feed information from sensors into an active control system that precisely adjusts components to optimize efficiency."

One of the main problems with wind turbines is that the wind can suddenly change direction and force, decreasing efficiency and causing costly damage to blades. The team from Purdue and Sandia believes its technique can help prevent this by providing real-time information to the turbine’s control system and predicting fatigue.

Sensors were embedded in the turbine blade as it was being built. Testing on a research wind turbine in Texas has shown that using a trio of sensors and "estimator model" software accurately reveal how much force is being exerted on the blades.

In the future, turbine blades could be fitted with flaps like those on an airplane’s wings. Sensors inside the blades would enable blade pitch to be adjusted in real time to respond to changing conditions.

"Wind energy is playing an increasing role in providing electrical power," says Adams. "The United States is now the largest harvester of wind energy in the world. The question is, what can be done to wind turbines to make them more efficient, more cost-effective and more reliable?"
Alternative energy is big business

The Renewable Energy: Global Industry Guide put the value of the renewables market at USD$246 million in 2007, and there’s no shortage of companies trying to improve on existing technologies and share the profits. Catch the Wind is a Virginia-based company that has developed a fibre optic laser sensor, the Vindicator. It sits atop turbines and measures wind data in real time, allowing adjustments to be made to the turbine well before the wind comes. The company’s research suggests it can provide an increase of up to a 10 percent in turbine output power.

The Leviathan Wind Energizer claims to increase power output by between 15 percent and 30 percent, when the turbine is spinning. It uses aerodynamic modeling to direct the surrounding wind flow to the critical area of the blades, via a passive structure located near each of the turbines.

ExRo Technologies believes its generator reduces costs and increases output by up to 50 percent because more than 90 percent of its energy can be converted into electricity. Rather than use a traditional mechanical generator to compensate for variations in the wind, they have developed a self-adapting electrical system that can scale up and down with available energy in a way that would take almost 70 traditional generators to match.

This isn't the only example that demonstrates biomimicry can provide answers. We recently covered the Tubercle Technology, a breakthrough in aerodynamic design offering more power, less noise and the ability to generate power at wind speeds that are much too slow for traditionally shaped turbines.

Karen Sprey

Go Green with Networking

Tickets are selling fast for the green networking event at the Eco Conference Centre at Sheepdrove Organic Farm in Berkshire, on 19 May 2009.

From 7.30 - 9.30pm, this event will give you the opportunity to network with other businesses that are looking for ways of saving energy and saving the environment. You can find out about how the Eco Conference Centre was built for a sustainable future and you can talk to businesses who supply products and services that help you and your business to save money.

Tickets are just £5 each (+VAT) and include tea, coffee and biccies. Click here to buy your tickets, or email Chantal@Appletreeuk.com.

If you'd like to exhibit on the night, please get in touch and we'll let you know what's available.

See you there!

Big polluters: one massive container ship equals 50 million cars

April 23, 2009 The Guardian has reported on new research showing that in one year, a single large container ship can emit cancer and asthma-causing pollutants equivalent to that of 50 million cars. The low grade bunker fuel used by the worlds 90,000 cargo ships contains up to 2,000 times the amount of sulfur compared to diesel fuel used in automobiles. The recent boom in the global trade of manufactured goods has also resulted in a new breed of super sized container ship which consume fuel not by the gallons, but by tons per hour, and shipping now accounts for 90% of global trade by volume.

The title of world’s largest container ship is actually held by eight identical ships owned by Danish shipping line Mærsk. All eight ships are 1300ft (397.7m) long and can carry 15,200 shipping containers around the globe at a steady 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h, 29.3 mph) . The only thing limiting the size of these ships is the Suezmax standard, which is the term used to define the the largest ships capable of transiting the Suez Canal fully loaded. These ships far surpass the Panamax standard (ships that can fit through the Panama Canal), which is limited to ships capable of carrying 5,000 shipping containers.

Not only are shipbuilders resetting the world record for size on a regular basis but so are the diesel engines that propel them. One of the eight longest container ships in the world, the 1,300 ft Emma Mærsk also has the world's largest reciprocating engine. At five storeys tall and weighing 2300 tonnes, this 14 cylinder turbocharged two-stroke monster puts out 84.4 MW (114,800 hp) - up to 90MW when the motor's waste heat recovery system is taken into account. These mammoth engines consume approx 16 tons of fuel per hour or 380 tons per day while at sea.

Unregulated emissions

In international waters ship emissions remains one of the least regulated parts of our global transportation system. The fuel used in ships is waste oil, basically what is left over after the crude oil refining process. It is the same as asphalt and is so thick that when cold it can be walked upon . It's the cheapest and most polluting fuel available and the world's 90,000 ships chew through an astonishing 7.29 million barrels of it each day, or more than 84% of all exported oil production from Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest oil exporter.

Shipping is by far the biggest transport polluter in the world. There are 760 million cars in the world today emitting approx 78,599 tons of Sulphur Oxides (SOx) annually. The world's 90,000 vessels burn approx 370 million tons of fuel per year emitting 20 million tons of Sulphur Oxides. That equates to 260 times more Sulphur Oxides being emitted by ships than the worlds entire car fleet. One large ship alone can generate approx 5,200 tonnes of sulphur oxide pollution in a year, meaning that 15 of the largest ships now emit as much SOx as the worlds 760 million cars.

South Korea's STX shipyard says it has designed a ship to carry 22,000 shipping containers that would be 450 meters long and there are already 3,693 new ship builds on the books for ocean going vessels over 150 meters in length due over the next three years. The amount of air pollution just these new ships will put out when launched is equal to having another 29 billion cars on the roads.

The UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) released a report in 2007 saying a 10% reduction in fuel burning was possible on existing ships and 30-40% possible for new ships but the technology is largely unused, as the regulations are largely voluntary.

Nuclear future?

Oddly enough there is never any mention of alternative power sources such as nuclear power. Nuclear marine propulsion has been in widespread naval use for over 50 years starting in 1955. There are 150 ships in operation that use nuclear propulsion with most being submarines, although they range from ice breakers to aircraft carriers. A Nimitz class supercarrier has more than twice as much power (240,000 hp, 208 MW) as the largest container ship diesel engines ever built and is capable of continuously operating for 20 years without refueling (some French Rubis-class submarines can go 30 years between refueling). The U.S. Navy has accumulated over 5,400 "reactor years" of accident-free experience, and operates more than 80 nuclear-powered ships.

Airborne pollution from these giant diesel engines has been linked to sickness in coastal residents near busy shipping lanes. Up to 60,000 premature deaths a year worldwide are said to be as a result of particulate matter emissions from ocean-going ship engines. The IMO, which regulates shipping for 168 member nations, last October enacted new mandatory standards for phasing in cleaner engine fuel. By 2020, sulphur in marine fuel must be reduced by 90% although this new distilled fuel may be double the price of current low grade fuels.

Paul Evans

Carbon Dioxide - as an energy source!!??

April 20, 2009

Scientists at the Singapore-based Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have made an unprecedented breakthrough in transforming carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas, into methanol, a widely used form of industrial feedstock and clean-burning biofuel. Using "organocatalysts", researchers activated carbon dioxide in a mild and non-toxic process to produce the more useful chemical compound.

The "hot paper" report, published recently in the international chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, has been described by reviewers as "very important", an classification only given to 10% of the journal's manuscripts.

This is because carbon dioxide emissions remain a hotly debated global issue, and are widely blamed for causing irreversible climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions produced by human activity are predominately due to the consumption of fossil fuels and, although figures vary, its concentration in the earth’s atmosphere are estimated to have risen by more than 30% since the industrial revolution. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that a 60% reduction of global carbon dioxide emissions is needed if carbon dioxide concentrations are to stabilize at present-day levels.

At the IBN, scientists have been able to make carbon dioxide react with a stable organocatalyst called N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) under mild conditions in dry air. “NHCs have shown tremendous potential for activating and fixing carbon dioxide,"says Siti Nurhanna Riduan, senior lab officer at IBN. "Our work can contribute towards transforming excess carbon dioxide in the environment into useful products, such as methanol.”

A combination of silica and hydrogen – called hydrosilane – is added to the NHC-activated carbon dioxide, which is transformed into methanol through hydrolysis. "Hydrosilane provides hydrogen, which bonds with carbon dioxide in a reduction reaction. This carbon dioxide reduction is efficiently catalyzed by NHCs even at room temperature. Methanol can be easily obtained from the product of the carbon dioxide reaction," explains Dr Yugen Zhang, IBN team leader and principal research scientist.

"Our previous research on NHCs has demonstrated their multiple applications as powerful antioxidants to fight degenerative diseases, and as effective catalysts to transform sugars into an alternative energy source. We have now shown that NHCs can also be applied successfully to the conversion of carbon dioxide into methanol, helping to unleash the potential of this highly abundant gas.”

Scientific research becomes increasingly important to find solutions that curb global warming. Current research is focusing on green chemistry, which aims to eliminate the use of hazardous substances to prevent environmental pollution. IBN's research aims to make the mass production of methanol more cost-effective, in the process reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released in the earth's atmosphere.

“We are innovating effective methods of generating clean energy using green chemistry and nanotechnology," explains Professor Jackie Y. Ying, IBN executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. "In the face of environmental pollution, global warming and increasing demands on diminishing fossil fuel resources, we hope to provide a viable alternative energy option for industry, and effective sequestration and conversion of carbon dioxide.”

artcile by Anne Hanrahan

LED's lasting 60 years!

February 2, 2009:

Cambridge University researchers have developed cheap, light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs that produce brilliant light but use very little electricity. They will cost just GBP2 (USD2.80) and last up to 60 years.
The gallium nitride based bulbs are 12 times more efficient than conventional tungsten incandescent bulbs and three times more efficient than compact fluorescent low-energy bulbs.
As well as lasting 100,000 hours, ten times as long as today's eco-bulbs, the LED bulbs do not contain mercury, so disposal is less damaging to the environment, they do not flicker and fully illuminate instantly, unlike the current generation of eco-bulbs.
The 100,000 hour LEDs use gallium nitride, a man-made semiconductor used to make light-emitting diodes. LEDs are currently available as replacement bulbs but they cost $25 - $50 each which makes them too expensive for widespread use.
To achieve the price break through the Cambridge scientists have developed a process where they grow Gallium Nitride on silicon wafers instead of the current method, which requires sapphire wafers.
The 10-fold price reduction could slash household lighting bills by three-quarters. A manufacturer has begun work on production prototypes and the first bulbs could be in the shops within two years.
The head of the Centre for Gallium Nitride, Professor Colin Humphreys, said: "This could well be the holy grail in terms of providing our lighting needs for the future - We are very close to achieving highly efficient, low-cost white LEDs. It is our belief they will render current energy-efficiency bulbs redundant."
Paul Evans

Step 15: The Beijinger

My mini break over, I have once again trekked out into the unknown.The rest and relaxation although welcome has left me desperate tofinish this walk, In a way I am starting to feel for the first timethat I want it all to be over.From beijing I headed out to the less visited wall sections ofbadaling and mutianyu. Of these the mutianyu section is especiallystunning, if you ignore the "danger, do not enter signs" some of thewall sections there are fantastically overgrown and extremelychallenging but stunning. The camera has yet again died a death,however I did manage to get some shots of these sections that I willupload as soon as possible onto the site.From here it was on to the the heavily touristed gubeikou to simitaisections, this time to save myself some time I first went ahead tosimitai to drop off my pack and equipped with only my GPS and a waterbladder headed back to Gubeikou to begin the days trek. However whatdespite describing my travel plans to the numerous friendly Chinesepeople I met on the way to gubeikou, none of them mentioned thatwalking from gubeikou to simitai was not actually possible, even the'book of lies' a.k.a Bradt guide to the great wall, negated to mentionthis rather important point. Blissfully unaware of this I trotted onmy way towards simitai only to be confronted by a barbed wire fenceand a colourful array of sign posts informing me that the area aheadwas a restricted military zone and not for the likes of me.As i am sure anyone who has read my previous emails is aware I tend toview set backs like this as a challenge rather than a suggestion thatI might need to re-think, and so I pressed on. Let it be known thatthe chinese military don't make it easy to go traipsing around ontheir turf, and as a result a considerable amount of time was spendingscaling the great wall itself to avoid more barbed wire, cemented upopenings and broken glass topped walls. After a final death defyingshimmy across a ledge just about big enough for a few of my toes Imade it back into 'not so military territory' (not a moment too soonas a green hatted, not so happy chinese chappy had just popped hishead around the corner to eye me scathingly). The rest of the wallsections to simitai were no picnic either, although the wall isrelatively well maintained, the majority of the route is traversed viasteps of various abnormal and often ridiculous heights.Since simiatai I have been unable to walk directly on the wall as itis situated on the mountain tops way above me, I have however beendiligently following its progress at floor level and am now cooling myheels in the town of xinglong east of beijing, predominantly populatedby old chinese men with straggly beards and chinese women in tightjeans with dogs or every shade imaginable (I'm referring to thepooches which have been lovingly sprayed bright pink for reasons loston me).I have just bought a rather dashing winter coat, in an effort to blendin with the locals and plan to set of tomorrow after a nice duck lunchwith logistics luke.From here it is a 10/11 day hop skip and a jump to the finish atShanhaiguan. I hope to be finished sometime around December 13th,ahead of schedule, it has all gone by so fast.I have just bought a new phone and the Chinese number is 13522902435.I will have the phone on all day from the 12-16th and any calls wouldbe warmly welcomed (i don't really expect to see anyone at the finishline).

To learn more about Hughs great adventure Click here.