HITACHI POWER SYSTEMS AMERICA, LTD. SIGNS ENHANCED ALL-DRY SCRUBBER TECHNOLOGY LICENSE AGREEMENT

BASKING RIDGE, NJ, March 28, 2012 – Hitachi Power Systems America, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., today announced that it has signed a license agreement with Solios Environnement Inc. to design and supply Enhanced All-Dry (EAD) Scrubber technology, jointly developed with Solios Environnement Inc, for the global electric utility market. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The EAD Scrubber technology is the original circulating semi-dry scrubber technology developed by Solios in the 1980s that has been widely applied in industrial sectors. It effectively removes SO2 as well as SO3, HCl, mercury and particulate matter from flue gas. Reactions occur in an entrained-flow, open vertical absorber which is preferred over more complex fluidized bed processes. By separating the reagent humidification and sulfur capture steps, this enhanced system is simple and reliable. Hitachi is applying the EAD Scrubber technology with a modular approach that allows unlimited scrubber capacity, virtually unlimited turndown, and enhanced system layout flexibility. EAD Scrubber technology has the additional advantages of low capital cost, low water consumption and dry byproducts, avoiding costly waste water treatment.

For more, click the link below:

http://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/120329.html

News Release from EPA - WaterSense

EPA Encourages Americans to Save Water During Fix a Leak Week/ WaterSense Partner of the Year Delta Faucet Company Fixes Leaks at 2 Marietta, Ga., Shelters

Contact Information: Davina Marraccini, (404) 562-8293, marraccini.davina@epa.gov

(Atlanta, Ga. – Mar. 13, 2012) – American households waste more than 1 trillion gallons of water each year due to leaky pipes, toilets, showerheads and other fixtures, but fixing leaks can be easy and inexpensive. During the 4th annual Fix a Leak Week, March 12-18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense program is educating Americans about the importance of fixing leaks around the home, which can save water and nearly 10 percent on utility bills.

This week in Marietta, Ga., WaterSense’s 2011 Manufacturer Partner of the Year Delta Faucet Company and Marine Plumbing Company are fixing leaks at The Extension and Elizabeth Inn, part of Must Ministries, and celebrating Fix a Leak Week in partnership EPA Region 4, Cobb County Water System, Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority and waterSmart (an Atlanta-based water conservation education program). Volunteers are installing more than 100 water efficient showerheads, faucet aerators and toilet flappers, which are anticipated to save more than 560,000 gallons of water per year.

In addition to the two Marietta shelters, Delta and its partners are fixing leaks in more than 1,000 community facilities and low-income households across the country in Boston, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle. At each location, volunteers are fixing leaky toilets and faucets, and installing WaterSense-labeled showerheads, estimated to save millions of gallons of water this year alone.

“Across the country, household leaks add up to more than 1 trillion gallons of water annually. The amount we’re losing could supply Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami for a full year,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We’re not just losing water, we’re also losing the money our communities put into keeping our water clean and healthy. That’s why Fix a Leak Week is so important, and why we encourage everyone to take a few simple steps that can add up to have a significant positive impact.”

The average American home leaks more than 10,000 gallons of water per year, which is equivalent to the water needed to wash 280 loads of laundry, take more than 600 showers or meet the average family’s water needs for a month.

Finding and fixing leaks around the home is as easy as check, twist and replace:

Check for leaks. Toilet leaks can be found by putting a few drops of food coloring into the tank and seeing if color appears in the bowl before you flush. Don’t forget to also check irrigation systems and spigots.

Twist and tighten pipe connections. To save even more water without a noticeable difference in flow, twist on a WaterSense labeled faucet aerator or showerhead.

Replace the fixture if necessary. Look for the WaterSense label when replacing plumbing fixtures, which are independently certified to use 20 percent less water and perform as well as or better than standard models.

WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by EPA, seeks to protect the future of our nation's water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products, new homes, and services. Since the program's inception in 2006, WaterSense has helped consumers save 125 billion gallons of water and more than $2 billion in water and energy bills. Consumers can find WaterSense-labeled products at thousands of retail locations across the country.

Why Inject Drinking Water Underground?

An earlier post had to do with a comment period for proposed changes in a permit to inject drinking water into an underground aquifer.  A visitor to this blog asked why would anybody want to inject drinking water into an underground aquifer in an area with abundant drinking water supplies?

I found this at the web site of the Joint Powers Water Board of Albertville - Hanover - St. Michael, MN:

Current & Upcoming Construction Projects

The Joint Powers Water Utility is a Pioneer in Minnesota

The Joint Powers Water Board recently constructed what is referred to as aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), and it is the first such system in Minnesota. The primary purpose for us is to provide adequate storage capacity of treated water without the need to build additional treatment plants and water towers. We will take already treated/filtered water from the distribution system during the slower winter months, pump it into the ground to be pumped back out during the summer peak water demands. This results in a tremendous cost savings to you, the customer.

Ultra-sustainable zHome

News Release from EPA Region 10:

Ultra-sustainable zHome becomes the first community of WaterSense labeled new homes in the Nation

Contact: Debra Sherbina, EPA WaterSense Coordinator, 206-553-0247, sherbina.debra@epa.gov; Tony Brown, EPA Public Affairs, 206-553-1203, brown.anthony@epa.gov

(Seattle – Jan. 25, 2012) zHome – the ultra-sustainable, 10-unit townhome development in Issaquah, WA that is redefining the future of housing – is also the first community in the Nation in which every home has earned the WaterSense label for new homes. EPA’s WaterSense program is modeled after its highly successful Energy Star program. The goal of WaterSense is to significantly reduce water use nationwide to save water resources for future generations.

A home that is certified to earn the WaterSense label will use at least 20 percent less water than a standard, newly-constructed home and the high-efficiency WaterSense labeled fixtures perform as well or better than their traditional counterparts. The benefits of the certification include:

• Lower utility bills for future residents
• Reduced strain on water and wastewater systems
•  More water left in streams and aquifers for salmon, recreation and other uses
• Fewer greenhouse gas emissions due to reduced energy demands from water treatment and delivery

zHome was designed to push the limits of sustainable, production housing. It is the first townhome, zero-energy, carbon-neutral community in the United States, and also received the Forest Stewardship Council’s 2011 award for the best residential project in North America.

In addition, zHome strove to demonstrate a multitude of water-efficient technologies, with a net reduction of 70 percent in potable water use compared to a typical King County home. Cascade Water Alliance provided WaterSense labeled toilets, showerheads, and bathroom faucets, as well as innovative, real-time use monitors for every unit to ensure maximum efficiency. Each zHome unit also includes a rainwater harvesting tank (ranging in size from 1,000- to 1,800-gallons) that is used for clothes washing and toilet flushing.

“EPA is proud to recognize the zHome project, built and developed by Ichijo USA and Seattle builder Matt Howland, as one of the leaders in the Pacific Northwest in helping to advance water efficiency,” said Paula vanHaagen, EPA’s Manager, Grants and Planning Unit in Seattle.

zHome was brought to life through a highly collaborative public/private partnership spearheaded by the City of Issaquah, in conjunction with Built Green, King County, Port Blakely Communities, Puget Sound Energy and the Washington State University Energy Program.

“We are extremely excited that the zHome units received the new WaterSense New Homes certification,” said Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger. “We hope zHome inspires homebuilders and homeowners to take advantage of the same water-saving benefits with their projects.”

Cascade Water Alliance, a long-time WaterSense promotional partner, is a non-profit corporation with the goal of providing safe, clean, and reliable water to its 400,000 residents and 22,000 businesses. Cascade is made up of the cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Tukwila, the Covington Water District, and the Sammamish Plateau and Skyway Water and Sewer Districts.

To find out more about Cascade Water Alliance, visit: www.cascadewater.org

To find out more about WaterSense, visit: www.epa.gov/watersense

To find out more about zHome, visit: www.z-home.org

To automatically receive Region 10 News Releases, subscribe via email at: http://service.govdelivery.com/service/subscribe.html?code=USEPA_C19

Utility to Purchase Low-Carbon Power from Innovative Clean Coal Plant

Blog post from the U.S. Dept of Energy web site.  The photo doesn't seem to go with the story, except that the photo depicts a coal gasification facility.

Utility to Purchase Low-Carbon Power from Innovative Clean Coal Plant

January 19, 2012 

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory demonstrated coal gasification in large-scale field experiments at the Rocky Mountain Test Facility (above) near Hanna, Wyoming. Coal gasification and sequestration of the carbon dioxide produced are among the technologies being used in the Texas Clean Energy Project. | Photo courtesy of llnlphotos.

Michael Hess

New Media Specialist, Office of Public Affairs

Carbon emissions for this plant will be...

• less than 10 percent of a conventional coal plant of similar output.
• less than 25 percent of an high-efficiency natural gas-powered power plant.

The Department of Energy is working with industry to keep the United States at the forefront of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies. An innovative clean coal demonstration project in Texas, supported by the Department’s Office of Fossil Energy, recently took a big step forward.  

The Energy Department announced that CPS Energy of San Antonio will purchase approximately 200 megawatts of power annually from the Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP) when the facility is complete in 2015. The $2.4 billion plant will receive $450 million in funding from the Department’s Clean Coal Power Initiative; of this, $211 million comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
This is the first purchase in the United States of low-carbon power from a power plant that uses carbon capture technology.

When operational, the 400-MW facility located just west of Midland-Odessa, Texas, will be the cleanest coal-fueled power plant in the world. Using a state-of-the-art process known as integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from this plant will be less than 10 percent of a conventional coal plant with similar energy output, and less than 25 percent of a high-efficiency natural gas-powered power plant.

It will also be capable of capturing 90 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) it produces, as well as 99 percent of sulfur dioxide, 90 percent of nitrogen oxide, and 99 percent of mercury.

In the gasification process, coal is not burned as if you were shoveling coal into a furnace or a steam locomotive boiler. Instead, the coal is sealed in a gasifier -- an airtight chamber that allows only controlled amounts of oxygen to enter. Starved for oxygen, the coal bakes rather than ignites and creates enough heat and pressure in the chamber to squeeze hydrogen and carbon monoxide out of the coal. The gases squeezed from the coal are then processed into synthetic gas, or syngas.

Next, water vapor is added to the syngas, which chemically reacts with the carbon monoxide to create additional hydrogen and also carbon dioxide. The gas is then cleaned of impurities, and separated into pure streams of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen powers an advanced turbine to generate electricity and its carbon-free exhaust heats water to generate steam that’s fed to a turbine to produce even more electricity.

Of the nearly 2.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to be captured annually at the Texas plant, 83 percent will be used in the West Texas Permian Basin for enhanced oil recovery -- a technique where carbon dioxide is pumped into a known reservoir where it expands and forces the oil out of the well. The rest of the captured carbon dioxide will go to producing urea -- a valuable compound with many industrial applications.

Today, approximately 80 percent of the energy consumed in the United States comes from coal, petroleum, and natural gas, with coal-fired power plants accounting for approximately half of the electricity generated. The implementation of clean, state-of-the-art coal-based technologies will help ensure America’s energy security while mitigating the environmental impacts of fossil fuel use.