China and the Green Energy Revolution

For the longest time, many considered China to be the place where green energy was doomed to failure. After all, this was a country that was building one coal factory every single week, in a slow week. Clouds of pollution would obscure entire cities and it was so bad that the country had to stop half the city from driving during the Olympics. Clouds of pollution from China could even be seen from space making their way over to the United States.

However, things have changed and China may become a world leader in green energy. As part of its economic stimulus package to restart the economy after the financial meltdown that swept the world, China created the largest green investment program in the entire world by giving out $336 billion in funds to green companies. That is well above the $80 billion put aside by the United States and the $45 billion by the European Union.

China has expressed that it wants to have energy security as part of its economic transformation and the country has pushed ahead with renewable energy development. Roughly 17 percent of the electricity in China currently comes from renewable sources and the country has the largest number of hydroelectric generators in the world. In 2007 the country had 145,000 megawatts of hydropower and by 2010 that had increased to 190,000 megawatts. Thanks to the heavy investment into green energy, China is expected to be able to supply all its power itself, through renewable resources, within the next 20 years.

Currently, China produces one-third of the solar photovoltaics in the world and the country has led the world with the manufacturing of these photovoltaics with its six biggest solar companies amounting to $15 billion in value. Nearly one gigawatt of energy is produced in China by solar energy, putting it second only to Japan. In 2007, there was 20 megawatts of installed solar capacity and that more than doubled in 2008 to 50 megawatts. By 2012, it is expected to be 232 megawatts and by 2020 most expect China to be producing 20 gigawatts of energy from solar resources.

In addition to solar energy, China has the largest wind resources on the planet, with 75 percent of those resources being found off-shore of the country. Currently, wind power in China accounts for 12.2 gigawatts of energy and the country is the fourth largest producer of wind power after the United States, Germany and Spain. This past year, China also became the largest maker of wind turbines in the entire world. While the country wanted to have 10 gigawatts of wind energy installed by 2010, it will most likely exceed 25.1 gigawatts within only a couple years. By 2020, the country plans to have 100 gigawatts of energy coming from wind energy.

Clearly, China is showing the world that when it does something, it does it on a large scale. With China pushing green energy, one of the worst polluters on the planet may become the greenest country in history.

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Eco Friendly Sod Roof

When you think of the roof of a house, you probably think of shingles, sheets of tin or ceramic tiles. However, there is a new trend in roofs that is actually not anything new. It is sod roofs and for thousands of years they were the way most humans built a roof. It is nothing new, but this age-old practice is being rediscovered as more and more individuals try to become more self-sufficient and environmentally-friendly.

Also called turf roofs and green roofs, a sod roof is typically built these days by combining dimpled plastic drainage membranes that are used instead of birch bark. Bitumen roofing felt is nailed down and a drainage membrane is put over this to create the drainage layer. Turf is then put on.

Other types of green roofs do not use this method. Some are only roofs with container gardens on top, while others feature irrigation systems and while not sod, allow for the growing of plants. Another form of green roof is the use of rooftop ponds that are used to treat greywater before it is used elsewhere by the homeowners.

A green/sod roof serves many purposes for a home or building. It helps to create a habitat for some wildlife, especially birds and insects, while absorbing rainwater, insulating the building and lowering the urban air temperature. It has also been found that not only do green roofs increase the value of a home; they also greatly increase the life span of the roof itself.

Some other benefits of the green roof include:

1. It can reduce the cooling load of a building by as much as 90 percent, with 50 percent being the norm.
2. It reduces storm water run off.
3. It filters both pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the outside air.
4. It helps to filter out any pollutants that may be in the rainwater.
5. It insulates the building from outside sound.
6. It provides agricultural space even in the middle of the city.

In a study done by Environment Canada, it was found that a green roof greatly improves the insulation of the roof. In the study, there was a 26 percent reduction in summer cooling needs and a 26 percent reduction in winter heat loss when there was a green roof. The lifespan of a roof was also increased by two to three times when it was a green roof.

Buildings all over the world are beginning to latch onto the idea of a green roof, including in Vancouver where more and more buildings are growing gardens on the roof instead of just leaving it bare.

Just recently, the University of Central Arkansas put in plans to put soil and plants on top of a classroom building in order to save money on the cost of utility bills and to help gain more benefits from the natural surface on top of the roof. University officials plan to put low-growing and slow-growing plants on the top of the roof, amounting to roughly 2,000 square feet of soil and plants. The life of the building will also be extended because the green roof will soak up UV rays.

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