Cities of the Future: Songdo, South Korea – Energy

Songdo International Business District's information technology network manages energy use in every building, making the city very "green." Episode 7 in the series.

March 28 , 2012

Transcript:

As populations expand and economies grow, people are consuming more non-renewable energy sources than ever. The race is on to make cities radically more energy efficient.

Songdo, South Korea, a new city built entirely from scratch, is on the forefront.

In Songdo, a revolutionary information technology network manages energy use in every building.

Jean-Louis Massaut, Director, Cisco Services Korea: The network that we deploy here is actually connecting all of the components in the city, all of the building subsystems together, so that we can bring energy savings.

Scott Summers, Vice President, Gale International:We're improving the efficiencies of each of the buildings. Our windows have low U value that reduces the amount of sunlight coming in and keeps the energy of the heat or cooling inside the building. Another component to reduce energy consumption (is) we light up the buildings with LED lights.

Peter Lee,Sustainable Design Specialist, Cosentini Korea: On the system level, we introduced water-cooled air conditioning system; it has never been applied to any Korean project before. We also have central home network system through which you can control your electricity use to reduce the dependence on the energy.

These innovations are helping reduce energy consumption in each building by 30 percent.  The city is also tapping into renewable natural resources.

Lee Jong-Cheol, Commissioner, Incheon Free Economic Zone: Sunlight, solar energy, windforce energy are being currently used to operate the city. Even human waste isn't simply disposed of. It is processed through a recycling system and a co-generation plant producing necessary energy.

Scott Summers: We have a co-generation facility that uses natural gas to power electricity. And the waste heat is in the form of hot water, and so we use that waste heat to run up our buildings and provide heating for our residential units.

By 2040, worldwide electricity demand is projected to be 80 percent higher than it is today. Songdo is a model for cities trying to keep pace.

Learn more at thenetwork.cisco.com/songdo

PRESS RELEASE

Mike Holmes breaks ground in Edmonton

Cisco Smart+Connected Communities Solutions Foster Environmentally, Socially and Economically Sustainable Project in Alberta

EDMONTON, AB, March 27, 2012—Phase II of the Boyle Renaissance development officially began construction today in a groundbreaking ceremony hosted by The Métis Capital Housing Corporation (MCHC) in Edmonton's Boyle neighbourhood. 

Attending the event were Mayor of Edmonton Stephen Mandel, Mike Holmes, Darlene Lennie, executive director of the MCHC, ENMAX Energy CEO, Charles Ruigrokand, and representatives of various project participants, including Cisco Canada and the MCHC.

"This development is about building quality, energy efficient homes and making them affordable for the people who need them most," stated Holmes.

The Holmes Group will spearhead the construction of 90 residential units, which will provide senior-friendly, barrier-free housing for Métis seniors and the disabled. Select suites will benefit from Cisco's "Cisco Smart Home System", allowing a person to control advanced home applications from a single touch pad interface.

"This collaboration is helping us improve the standard of living for individuals and communitiesthrough ambitious projects, such as The Boyle Renaissance," stated Rick Huijbregts, vice president of Cisco® Smart+Connected Communities for Cisco Canada. "This development is a fine blueprint for how future communities will be designed, built and managed to achieve social, economic, and environmental sustainability."

ENMAX Energy will provide the necessary infrastructure for district energy and combined heat and power (CHP), allowing the facility to benefit from advanced heating and power systems that use cleaner burning natural gas.

"ENMAX's vision for corporate responsibility includes cleaner energy choices for consumers and investing in the communities we serve," said Charles Ruigrok, interim president and CEO, ENMAX Corporation. "The Boyle Renaissance project allows us to focus on both of these mandates."

Ensuring the development meets efficiency performance levels has been a top priority. "Working together as a team towards this one goal makes all the difference," added Holmes. "When we all step in the right direction, moving forward is easy."

About The Holmes Group

The Holmes Group is an international brand with operations in independent media production, new home building and inspection divisions with expansion into product development. It is entirely owned by Mike Holmes and it is responsible for developing and managing HOLMES branded entities, including HOLMES Homes, HOLMES Inspections, HOLMES Workwear, Make It Right Releasing Inc. and The Holmes Foundation.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go tohttp://newsroom.cisco.com.

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Tribal Clean Energy Projects Awarded $6.5 Million

News release from the U.S. Dept. of Energy:

Tribal Clean Energy Projects Awarded $6.5 Million from U.S. Energy Department

February 16, 2012 - 11:46am

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to strengthening partnerships with Tribal Nations and supporting tribal energy development, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced that 19 clean energy projects to receive more than $6.5 million. These competitively selected projects will allow Native American Tribes to advance clean energy within their communities by assessing local energy resources, developing renewable energy projects and deploying clean energy technologies. These projects will help Tribal communities across the country save money and create new job and business opportunities.

“As President Obama highlighted in the State of the Union, the Administration is committed to building an American economy that lasts and leverages our nation’s clean energy resources,” said Secretary Chu. “The awards announced today will help Tribes across the country advance a sustainable energy future for their local communities, spur economic development, and advance innovative clean energy technologies.”

The Energy Department has taken a number of steps to strengthen its support for Tribal energy development and empower Tribal leaders to make informed decisions that promote community economic development. Over the past year, the Department has established the Indian Country Energy Infrastructure Working Group with Tribal leaders from across the country and launched programs to provide technical assistance and support to help Tribal communities, colleges and universities deploy energy projects and gain skills in energy development and financing.

Since 2002, the Energy Department’s Tribal Energy Program has provided $36 million to 159 tribal energy projects.

The projects selected for negotiation of award today fall under three project areas:

$3.6 Million for Feasibility Studies – Thirteen projects will receive $3.6 million to assess the technical and economic viability of developing renewable energy resources on tribal lands to generate utility-scale power or study the feasibility of installing renewable energy systems on buildings to reduce energy use by 30 percent.

$1.7 Million for Renewable Energy Development Projects – Four projects will receive $1.7 million for pre-construction development activities.  Three are developing more than 250 megawatts of new renewable energy generation, and one, when implemented, would reduce the need for diesel fuel for heating by 80 percent – or 9,600 gallons annually.

$1.3 Million for Installation Projects – Two projects will receive $1.3 million to deploy renewable energy technologies to convert waste and other biomass to energy.  Once installed, the projects will generate 5 megawatts of energy per hour using municipal solid waste and using cordwood for heating to save between 2,500 and 3,200 gallons of propane.

The tribal energy projects announced today were selected as a result of a DOE funding opportunity announcement issued last year. A summary of all 19 selected tribal energy projects is available HERE.
Under the authority of Title V of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Tribal Energy Program, in coordination with the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, provides financial and technical assistance to Indian Tribes for the evaluation and development of their renewable energy resources, implementation of energy efficiency to reduce energy use, and provides education and training to help build the knowledge and skills essential for sustainable tribal energy projects.

DOE Reports Show Potential for Wave & Tidal Energy Production

Progress Alert from the U.S. Department of Energy:

DOE Reports Show Major Potential for Wave and Tidal Energy Production Near U.S. Coasts

January 18, 2012

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released two nationwide resource assessments showing that waves and tidal currents off the nation's coasts could contribute significantly to the United States' total annual electricity production, further diversify the nation's energy portfolio, and provide clean, renewable energy to coastal cities and communities. These new wave and tidal resource assessments, combined with ongoing analyses of the technologies and other resource assessments, show that water power, including conventional hydropower and wave, tidal, and other water power resources, can potentially provide 15% of our nation's electricity by 2030. Today's reports represent the most rigorous analysis undertaken to date to accurately define the magnitude and location of America's ocean energy resources. The information in these resource assessments can help to further develop the country's significant ocean energy resources, create new industries and new jobs in America, and secure U.S. leadership in an emerging global market.

The United States uses about 4,000 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year. DOE estimates that the maximum theoretical electric generation that could be produced from waves and tidal currents is approximately 1,420 TWh per year, approximately one-third of the nation's total annual electricity usage. Although not all of the resource potential identified in these assessments can realistically be developed, the results still represent major opportunities for new water power development in the United States, highlighting specific opportunities to expand on the 6% of the nation's electricity already generated from renewable hydropower resources.

The two reports—"Mapping and Assessment of the United States Ocean Wave Energy Resource" and "Assessment of Energy Production Potential from Tidal Streams in the United States"—calculate the maximum kinetic energy available from waves and tides off U.S. coasts that could be used for future energy production, and which represent largely untapped opportunities for renewable energy development in the United States.

The West Coast, including Alaska and Hawaii, has especially high potential for wave energy development, while significant opportunities for wave energy also exist along the East Coast. Additionally, parts of both the West and East Coasts have strong tides that could be tapped to produce energy.

Earlier this year, DOE announced the availability of its national tidal resource database, which maps the maximum theoretically available energy in the nation's tidal streams. This database contributed to the "Assessment of Energy Production Potential from Tidal Streams in the United States" report, prepared by Georgia Tech.

The wave energy assessment report, titled "Mapping and Assessment of the United States Ocean Wave Energy Resource," was prepared by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), with support and data validation from researchers at Virginia Tech and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The report describes the methods used to produce geospatial data and to map the average annual and monthly significant wave height, wave energy period, mean direction, and wave power density in the coastal United States. NREL incorporated the data into a new marine and hydrokinetic energy section in their U.S. Renewable Resource atlas.

In addition to the wave and tidal resource assessments released today, DOE plans to release additional resource assessments for ocean current, ocean thermal gradients, and new hydropower resources in 2012. To support the development of technologies that can tap into these vast water power resources, DOE's Water Power Program is undertaking a detailed technical and economic assessment of a wide range of water power technologies in order to more accurately predict the opportunities and costs of developing and deploying these innovative technologies. The Program is currently sponsoring over 40 demonstration projects that will advance the commercial readiness of these systems, provide first-of-a-kind, in-water performance data that will validate cost-of-energy predictions, and identify pathways for large cost reductions.

These resource assessments, techno-economic assessments, and technology demonstration projects are critical elements of DOE's strategy to capture the very real opportunities associated with water power development, and to further define the path to supplying 15% of the nation's electricity through water power technologies.

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign oil. DOE's Water Power Program is paving the way for industry and government to make sound investment and policy decisions about the deployment of renewable water power technologies by quantifying the nation's theoretically available water power resources.