The recent UNCC conference in Bali highlighted global warming as an important problem which requires a global effort. Although the agreement the conference reached did not satisfy all parties, the impact is still real and it takes each one of us to start making a difference.
Buildings are a good place to start. According to a report by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) and IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the building sector consumes 40 percent of the world’s energy and material and accounts for 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.
According to Thejakartapost.com, measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings fall into three categories: (i) reducing energy consumption in buildings; (ii) switching to low-carbon fuels, including a higher portion of renewable energy; or (iii) controlling the emissions of non-CO2 greenhouse gases.
The first method, energy efficiency, has become the primary focus.
In the complete life cycle of a building, starting from preconstruction, construction and operation to demolition, energy consumption can be split into two categories: (i) embodied energy and (ii) operating energy.
For typical standards of building construction, embodied energy is equivalent to only a few years of operating energy. Thus, over a 50 year time span, reducing the operating energy is normally more important than reducing the embodied energy.
Occupant behavior, culture, consumer choice and use of technology are major determinants of building emissions.
Generally, for hot countries, the main agent in energy efficiency is reducing the lighting and cooling load.
There are many strategies that can be applied, including changing behavior, increasing the efficiency of appliances, using a high-performance building skin, tapping into alternative energy sources, and using an integrated design process.
The simplest way to change our behavior is adjusting our notions of comfort. This means that we need to stop pretending that we are in a cold climate where we can use our winter clothing.
Raising the thermostat to 24-25 degrees Celsius is generally acceptable to most people and requires less electricity than setting it at 15-17 degrees Celsius.
At home, the next step is reducing our reliance on air conditioning. You can start using the timer and set it in accordance with your daily routine.
Consider using air conditioning only in the first two or three hours of sleep, then setting the unit to increase the temperature slightly each hour.
Lighting loads can be reduced with natural day lighting as well as combining ambient (general lighting) and task lighting. Maximize your use of day lighting by organizing the interior furniture based on daily activities and arranging it so you can get the most natural lights from the windows.
Ambient lights are grouped into zones corresponding to natural light, so you can switch on the lights depending on the amount of natural light penetration in the room.
Blinds, louvers, or curtains are conventional devices used to control daylight. Controlling daylight reduces not only the lighting load, but the cooling load. For commercial or apartment buildings, retrofitting with shading devices and light shelves can increase the efficiency of both lighting and cooling.
Ideally, energy efficiency measures should be included starting from the design stage through an integrated design process, in which building performance is optimized by involving all members of the design team from the beginning.
However, the fragmentation of the building industry and the design process into professions, trades, work stages and industries has become a barrier to this approach.
Retrofitting existing, inefficient buildings, most of which will still be here for the next 20 to 50 years, is key to energy efficiency efforts.
Cost-effective measures can be undertaken without major renovations.
These include improving the building envelope and replacing inefficient boilers, water heaters, air conditioning and lighting. This can dramatically affect emissions.
Thus, we can achieve substantial reductions in emissions from energy use in buildings over the coming years using mature technologies that already exist and have been widely used.
Changing our energy consumption can play a key role in achieving greenhouse gas goals, and would be a great New Year’s resolution for all of us.
So, before going to sleep tonight, turn off the lights and start using your air conditioner’s timer function. Happy New Year!
Zenin Adrian

Well located trees and shrubs can intercept the wind and cut your heat loss.

Locating trees and shrubs around your home properly will help to reduce your need for fuel to heat and cool. How much energy is saved depends on your choice of plants ad where you locate them.
Trees and shrubs reduce noise and air pollution and make your home more attractive and valuable. Therefore, money spent on landscaping your home is a good investment, Carrollcountytimes.com reported.
An unprotected home loses much more heat on a cold, windy day than on an equally cold, still day. Well located trees and shrubs can intercept the wind and cut your heat loss.
Up to one-third of the heat loss from a building may escape through the walls and roof by conduction. Wind increases the convective air currents along outside walls and the roof, thus increasing the heat loss.
Air leakage can account for as much as one-third of heating losses in some buildings. Cold outside air flows in through cracks around windows and doors, and even through the pores in walls. This produces drafts that may cause you to over-compensate by raising the thermostat to unreasonable levels just to maintain comfort. Both windbreaks and foundation plantings can cut down this penetrating power of the wind. Studies of windbreaks show that windbreaks can reduce winter fuel consumption by 10 percent to 30 percent.
The amount of money saved by a windbreak around a home will vary depending on the climate of the area, location of the home and what the house is built of. A well-weathered house with adequate ventilation, caulking and weather stripping won’t benefit from windbreaks nearly as much as a poorly weatherized home.
Windbreaks can be located to control snow, too. This reduces the energy required to remove the snow from around homes, other buildings and roads. Make sure windbreaks are located so as to have the desired effect on drifting snow.
Trees and shrubs planted close to buildings reduce wind currents that otherwise would chill the outside surfaces. These foundation plantings even create a “dead air“ space which slows the escape of heat from a building. These plantings also help reduce air infiltration losses around the foundation of the house. Again, evergreen trees and shrubs are thicker and are more effective than deciduous plants.
To be most effective, the evergreens should be planted close together to form a tight barrier against air movement. In summer, the same dead air space helps to insulate your home from hot outside air, thus reducing the need for air conditioning.
Deciduous vines that cling to trellises along the wall can afford protection on the south and west sides of your house. But remember that vines which cling directly to the walls may cause some structural deterioration. By providing direct shade on the walls, vines keep surface temperatures down and reduce convection-caused heat gain.
Some additional cooling comes from the evaporation of moisture from the leaves. Evergreen vines such as English Ivy should not be used on walls facing south since the vines block the winter sun’s warming rays. Vines may help to insulate walls on the northern and western sides by curbing winter winds.

Cardon Oil Refinery, Venezuela

Venezuela’s decision to assume majority control of its lucrative oil and gas industry dominated headlines in Latin American energy news in 2007, with leftist President Hugo Chavez taking a hardline stance against companies unwilling to agree to new terms.
The highly coveted Orinoco oilfield--Venezuela’s most bountiful--was at the center of much dispute for most of the year, Upi.com.
Several big-name foreign oil firms in Venezuela agreed in April to turn over majority control of their operations in the oil-rich Orinoco River to the country’s state-owned petroleum company ahead of the May 1 deadline set by the Chavez administration.
BP PLC, Chevron, Total SA of France and Norway’s Statoil ASA all agreed to give Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) a controlling hand in the projects at Orinoco as mandated in February by Chavez.
Orinoco is considered to be the most lucrative oil reserve in the country, currently pumping some 600,000 barrels per day.
Chavez raised international concern in late February when he first announced the Orinoco takeover bid.
“Venezuela’s privatization of oil has come to an end,“ Chavez said at the time, raising concerns among foreign oil interests in the country as well as Washington. By decree, PDVSA assumed at least a 60-percent controlling share in all projects.
Some analysts and Chavez critics warn that the takeover by PDVSA could be more than the state-run energy firm is ready to handle. Though Chavez has spent billions of dollars on social projects and discount oil for friends and foes alike, not nearly enough of the Venezuelan oil wealth has been reinvested in new equipment, personnel or training, leaving the state firm woefully unprepared to handle the rigors of the reserve’s heavy crude.
On the economic front, some warn Venezuela isn’t financially equipped to pay the market share it promised to acquire the percentage of Orinoco projects the government covets. Others expressed concern the heavy hand of bureaucracy will devastate the industry.
For the most part, foreign firms in Venezuela have operated there with little government interference. Venezuela has renegotiated some oil contracts in the last few years, though with soaring global oil prices, both sides appeared content with maintaining the status quo as long as they both earned billions in petrodollars.
“For years, oil companies acted like the Chavez aim at taking over the oil sector didn’t exist,“ said PFC Energy (an energy consulting firm) analyst Roger Tissot. “But now that conditions are in his favor, Chavez can move full-speed ahead.“
Meanwhile, Brazil made huge strides in 2007 in augmenting its own energy sector with the discovery of a massive offshore oilfield.
Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras has made a major discovery of an offshore oilfield projected to yield between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels.
Petrobras officials said the discovery in the Tupi oilfield could launch Brazil into the Top 10 oil producers in the world, O Globo reported.
The oilfield’s potential yield would provide Brazil with the world’s eighth-largest oil and gas reserves, Petrobras President Sergio Gabrielli said.
News of the discovery prompted Petrobras shares to jump more than $24 on the New York Stock Exchange to $116.77, a 52-week high.
The find follows last year’s announcement that Brazil has become a net exporter of oil after decades of dependency on other countries. However, Brazil still imports light crude for use domestically.
Elated by the discovery, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva quipped, “God must be Brazilian.“
Brazil’s oil fortune appeared to improve even further with the discovery of another field nearby Tupi that some experts predict could be even larger.
Petrobras also noted earlier this year it was in the final stage of construction and installation of its $900 million P-54 platform, one of the world’s largest, with a production capacity of 180,000 bpd and capable of compressing 6 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.
Elsewhere in Latin America, Bolivian President Evo Morales surprised many when he said his government was considering selling natural gas to Chile.
The decision is surprising after more than a century of tension between the two countries stemming from Bolivia losing its coast to Chile in a 19th century war.
Tensions run deep. In 2003 the mention of selling gas to Chile was reason enough to force President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada from office and inspire widespread violence that left dozens dead. Morales, a leftist and Bolivia’s first indigenous leader in modern times, apparently felt no such fear. Having nationalized the country’s gas sector last year, he now apparently feels confident enough to suggest filling Bolivian state coffers with Chilean pesos.