Category Archives: Green Technology

Translink Brings Zero Emission Public Transport to Northern Ireland

Green Technology, Transportation, ,

On a sunny spring evening in April, Translink kindly hosted members of EVANI (Electric Vehicle Association of Northern Ireland) at their bus depot Milewater Service Centre in Belfast. Translink is the public corporation for public transport in Northern Ireland and manages a fleet of 1,400 buses, coaches and trains carrying 1.5 million passengers every week.  With key emission targets for 2030 and beyond, Translink is preparing now for a future of zero-emission public transport with electric and hydrogen-powered double-decker buses.

After an initial pilot of three hydrogen-fuelled buses in 2020, Translink started its green journey in earnest with the purchase of 80 battery buses and a further 20 hydrogen buses in 2022. Another 100 buses are expected in 2024 and Translink doesn’t expect to ever buy another diesel bus. Handily, one of the leading manufacturers of buses, Wrightbus, is based a few miles north in Ballymena. The transition to zero-emissions not only requires the vehicles but the infrastructure to support them with an equivalent number of charge points and hydrogen storage facilities on the Milewater site.

Constraints on the power supply to the charging stations mean that intelligent software is used to ensure that battery-powered bus charging is matched to departure schedules (i.e. those buses leaving next are charged first) but otherwise it’s very similar to charging an EV car overnight: the 150 kW chargers even use the same plug and socket as an ordinary car (CCS2).

When it comes to hydrogen-fuelled buses, these are electric vehicles too, only they use a fuel cell to combine stored hydrogen with atmospheric oxygen to produce electricity and water, which pours out of the rear of the vehicle. I was most surprised at the amount of water produced – it’s more than you’d think – here’s a short video. The hydrogen is shipped in at the moment, but a nearby wind farm in County Antrim is setting up a hydrogen plant which will make deliveries much more convenient.

In comparison, the range of battery v hydrogen power isn’t that different, being somewhere about 200 miles. The big difference is that charging the batteries has to occur overnight, taking several hours, whereas a hydrogen bus can be refuelled in under 10 minutes. The battery powered buses work well within the urban environments, with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles potentially taking on the role for inter-city and rural transport. The new buses aren’t cheap though, with the fuel cell ones costing twice the equivalent diesel bus. However, the expectation is that reduced maintenance costs and extended lifespan will reduce the total cost of ownership.

The transition hasn’t been easy with several challenges. Obviously, it’s new technology with unknown infrastructure issues and limitations on the overall power supply to the site. Batteries were delayed because of the pandemic, and Translink had to work closely with Chargepoint to optimise the charging software. Learning the characteristics of batteries, especially in cold weather has been important as well, but a measure of the success of the move is that no bus has ever run out of charge while in service. Dealing with hydrogen had a different set of challenges, but by applying standards carefully and diligently, the buses can be worked on safely. The drivers and passengers have taken well to the buses, enjoying the quietness, lack of exhaust fumes and absence of vibrations.

Translink aren’t only looking to road transport for zero emissions. It’s early stages now, but a detailed assessment is on track for the required infrastructure and costs to electrify the rail network in the next decade.

The population of Northern Ireland is under 2 million people and the foresight of the team in Translink is a credit to the region: the corporation has the fourth largest zero emission fleet of vehicles in the UK. When you think of the other major transport networks in the country, such as Transport for London, this is a major achievement and it’s exciting for Northern Ireland to be in the vanguard for the future of public transport.

With many thanks to William, Martin and Ian at Translink for spending their evening with us.

OnePlus Plants Trees for Trade-Ins with Ecologi

Green Technology, Information, smartphone, ,

OnePlus LogoEcologi Script Logo on Green and Blue SplodgeTo help reduce the impact of its products on the planet, OnePlus has partnered with Ecologi to plant a tree every time a phone is traded in for a new one. Ecologi is a climate action organisation that helps both individuals and businesses offset their activities through the planting of trees.

Based on the current trade-in rate for new phones such as the 10T, Nord 2T and 10 Pro, OnePlus expects several thousand trees to be planted on its behalf. The trees will be planted in dedicated forest areas around the world and so far, Ecologi has planted over 50 million trees on behalf of its supporters and clients. This represents a reduction of 2.2 million tonnes of CO2.

“At OnePlus we’re renowned for our community spirit, and looking out for our users. By giving OnePlus fans the chance to help the planet every time they get a new phone, we’re helping them make a positive difference to the planet,” said Tuomas Lampen, OnePlus’s Head of European Strategy. “By partnering with Ecologi as part of our wider environmental work we hope to continue to reduce our impact on the world and become a more sustainable business.”

In addition to planting trees, OnePlus has worked to reduce the amount of plastic in packaging, extend product lifecycles and has established recycling schemes. The customer benefits as well, with a trade in bonus available throughout October. When customers trade in an old phone for new phones they’ll receive an additional GB£200 or 200€ back on top of the trade-in value of their phone.

Linda Adams, Head of Partnerships at Ecologi, added: “While there is still work to do in the consumer electronics industry, it’s great to see OnePlus taking important steps to reduce the environmental impact of its products through its trade-in scheme, alongside supporting reforestation projects. Given its global presence and huge customer base, we hope OnePlus can act as an example to other companies in the sector – inspiring them to join the collective fight against climate change.”

If you are interested in offsetting your own personal carbon footprint, have a look at Ecologi. As a social enterprise (they’re not a charity), they work with tree planting partners to reforest local areas with appropriate trees to encourage wildlife and biodiversity. You can take out a subscription to Ecologi to cover part or all of your carbon footprint and there are family options too that will even cover your pets. 85% of the subscription goes to funding trees and similar projects. There’s a bit about the company over over at TechCrunch.

City of Phoenix Offers Free Sustainable Home Design Plans

design, energy, Green Technology, , ,

Home Design Plans CompetitionRooted firmly in mid-century modern design and with a nod to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian houses, the City of Phoenix and the American Institute of Architects ran a “Sustainable Home Design Competition for a ‘near net-zero energy’ single family home” in 2018.

The design was to be for a house in climate zone 2, which indicates a need primarily for cooling, and was part of the City’s goal to become a carbon-neutral and zero-waste city. As a step towards achieving these goals, the City of Phoenix wanted to encourage the construction of ultra-low energy use homes.

The prize was US$100,000 and the winning design, Home NZ, came from Marlene Imirzian & Associates Architects, in partnership with SCL Consulting, Henderson Engineers and Desert Skies Energy Services.

The building is 2,185 square feet and sits on 60′ by 110′ lot. Inside there are three bedrooms, family and living rooms, kitchen, laundry, bathroom and garage for a build cost around US$350,000. As built, it has a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) index of 33 but with the addition of renewable energy sources (solar), this falls to 0. For comparison, a standard new home has a HERS rating of around 100.

Home NZ Side View

By using heat reflective glazing, passive cooling and natural convection, plus low energy lighting and smart systems, the Home NZ can expect to save around $2,000 in comparison to a similar standard property. Of course, it’s not just about saving money, it’s about saving the planet…

These competitions are often great exemplars of technology, but in this case, it’s an affordable family home that can be built today. And even better, the City of Phoenix has made the plans available for free. All you have to do is go here, sign the disclaimer, and download 88 MB of pdf.

And if you are ever in the Phoenix area, I’d recommend a trip to Taliesin West in neighbouring Scottsdale to learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright.

Grow Your Own with Opcom Indoor Hydroponics at CES 2018

ces, Green Technology, Interview, Special Media, video, , , , ,

When I hear “hydroponics” I always think of scifi and long missions to deep space. Fortunately, hydroponics is much more rooted in reality than the genre suggests, and this brings us neatly to Opcom Farm and their indoor hydroponics systems. Todd digs with Ray from Opcom and discovers how to garden in your garage.

Opcom offers everything needed to setup a home hydroponics garden except the space. Even then, the GrowPod can create space within another area, such as a garage, for the racks and shelving needed for a hydroponic garden. These days all the lights are LED, so energy costs are kept low, and there’s a range of units from the simple O2-Light to a full GrowWall. It all depends on the budget – a GrowPod starts at US$2000.

There’s plenty of information on Opcom Farm‘s website and some products are available from Amazon.com. Others are on pre-order for delivery in 2018.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com.

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One Size Fits All with Ohyo 2Bag

Green Technology, travel accessories, , ,

Back in 2016 I interviewed Guy Jeremiah from Ohyo at The Gadget Show, where he was demonstrating a flexible use bag. Designed by Felix Conran, the bag could be arranged into four different configurations; a tablet bag, messenger bag, a back-pack and a grocery bag.

Returning to 2017, the team’s back together with the Ohyo 2Bag, a re-imagining which focuses on daily life. The 2Bag converts between a messenger bag and a larger carry-all, so imagine starting the day with a laptop in the 2Bag but then being able to buy some groceries on the way home. Inside, the 2Bag has two zipped compartments and as the smaller is waterproof, any leakages from the shopping won’t destroy the electronics.

Designed again by Felix Conran, the grandson of Sir Terence Conran, the 2Bag has additional pockets for keys and phones, plus a ring to hold a collapsible Ohyo bottle. Focussing on the re-usability of the 2Bag, Felix says, “I think we have a huge amount of responsibility as designers. It’s our job to consider everything and that includes where the product ends up… we don’t want to be designing landfill. I want to make objects that have a longer life-cycle than is expected of them because if you only need to buy something once, this is the ultimate in sustainability.”

And it’s way more stylish when shopping than a bunch of tatty plastic bags.

To get the 2Bag off the ground, Ohyo has a Kickstarter campaign with early birds getting in at GB£49 (about US$65). The campaign needs a little help, as it’s just under 50% funded with only a week to go, so don’t delay if you want one. Delivery is expected in December 2017 so it could make a good Christmas present.

Ohyo has a good track record on Kickstarter with two successful campaigns for the earlier Ohyo bag but as with all things Kickstarter, just be aware of the risk.

The Kickstarter campaign video is below.

 

Verv Shows Where Your Energy Goes

energy, energy saving, Green Technology, Home Automation, , ,

London-based firm Green Running have launched Verv, a home energy assistant that uses AI technology to automatically figure out which appliances are running and how much they’re costing. It’s clever stuff and they’ve got 6 patents to prove it.

The UK’s smart meter programme has taken a bit of hammering in the press recently with The Register covering the debacle along with a healthy dose of cynicism. In agreement, Peter Davies, CEO & Founder of Green Running points out, “Smart Meters are being rolled out across homes but they simply don’t provide enough detail to tell the consumer what is actually costing them money. They just provide a total cost of your electricity usage. We are able to sample data at extremely high frequencies enabling us to read the ‘energy signature’ of individual electrical appliances. This means we can show the user in real time how much their appliances are costing them, in addition to an array of other functions such as alerting them if an appliance is deteriorating or if they’ve left something on.”

Being able to tell which appliances are electricity is handy, especially if it reveals when an older unit is consuming too much power either through slow failure or that newer models consume far less.

Verv doesn’t need to be installed by an electrician – there’s no fiddling with electricity here. Simply, there’s three parts. A Verv hub, a sensor clamp that goes round the main power cable, and an app for both iOS and Android. The only snag I can see from the installation video, is the hub needs a power socket near the meter.

Verv is electricity supplier neutral too and it doesn’t matter who supplies the power. In fact, it’s probably a good way to check that the supplier is billing correctly as 60% of consumers don’t understand their utility bills.

Integration with Amazon Alexa is touted on the web site though there’s no detail at present on what features might be supported in the skill. There’s also no mention of an interface to any smart home gear, such as Samsung SmartThings, but I would imagine that’s on the priority list as Verv’s competitor, Smappee, is already there. IFTTT would be good too but it’s early days.

Verv is currently open for pre-orders at GB£249 with delivery expected in the autumn (the website says October, the press release says November…)

Pushing Power Back into The Grid

Green Technology, grid tie, net metering, solar, , , , , ,

Phase Two Array ResizeI have always been fascinated by solar power. There’s something quite intriguing about the idea of simple sunlight hitting a solar panel and instantly producing electricity.

Home solar systems can take a few different forms. There are power backup systems that require the use of battery storage, as well as systems that allow people the luxury of electricity that live completely off-grid. Today, the most popular form of solar by far is known as grid-tie or Net Metering.

Grid-tie Net Metering

With grid-tie net metering solar power systems, no batteries are used. Grid-tied solar panels feed power back directly into the public electrical grid and can actually make the power meter run backwards. The more solar panels integrated into the system, the more potential power can be fed back into the connected electric grid. Power bills can either be reduced, or in some cases, completely zeroed out, depending on local electric power company policies.Solar Phase One

Solar panels produce DC or direct current. The power grid is AC or alternating current. Therefore, to sell power back to the electric utility, it is necessary to convert the DC power coming from solar panels into AC so it can be fed into the power grid. This is accomplished with DC to AC power inverters.Inverters Resize

I recently visited a home solar system installation where the home owner has been slowly expanding his net metering system over the past seven years. He initially began seven years ago with forty-three 100 watt 12 volt solar panels, placed on top of his workshop.

With this first system, it was necessary for him to run wires down the length of the interior roof to a bank of mounted micro-inverters that needed to be protected from the weather. One of the lessons he learned from this initial installation was that lengthy wires carrying 12 volt DC results in power loss. The longer the lines, the more the efficiency drops. Higher voltages don’t experience as much line loss.

The best way around this problem is to mount weatherproof micro-inverters directly to the backs of the solar panels. Once the power is converted to 120 volts AC, the length of the wires to the grid connection point are somewhat less critical because the voltage is higher.Grid Tie Inverter Resize

With the second phase of his foray into solar, he built a rack on a metal pole complete with a sun tracking mechanism that he built and wrote control software for himself. The rack contains nine higher efficiency 280 watt 24 volt panels with weather proof micro-inverters attached to the backs of the panels.

The weatherproof micro-inverters are of a modular design that can allow additional inverters to be plugged in to the to the system. The rack-mounted system produces as much power as the workshop roof-mounted panels, even though they have less surface area, primarily because they are higher-efficiency panels.Solar Porch Canopy

He is currently working on phase three of his system, which consists of panels that form a sort of porch canopy over the garage door entrance to his workshop.These are also 280 watt panels, each with its own micro-inverter. He is in the process of slowly adding additional panels to continue expanding his overall system capacity.Meter Output

At the moment when I took this picture of the system output meter, the total output was about 5.4 kilowatts.

A great way to learn more about solar panels, inverters and net metering is YouTube. Good search terms include solar power, grid-tie, and inverter.

Many recreational vehicle enthusiasts have developed a strong interest in attaching solar panels and power inverters to their RV’s, which can allow them to have a measure of generator-free and thus noise-free AC power and engage in extended off-grid camping.