Next week is the big week

Events next week:

• The UN Climate Change Conference kicks off in Copenhagen (COP 15) and Leaders of the Commonwealth countries called Saturday for a legally binding international agreement on climate change and a global fund with billions of dollars to help poor countries meet its mandates. The 53-nation meeting was the largest gathering of international leaders before next month's global climate summit in Copenhagen.
  
• Barack Obama receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo


• ....and an important step for us: the JAHUS project will finally be completed

You may also want to see this video-clip on glaciers disappearing in China http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=16886820&ch=4226714&src=news

Progress:

As mentioned above, they have promised to finish the JAHUS project this week. Tuesday next week we have agreed to meet here and they will formally hand over the project to us - and give us instructions on how to operate the new ventilation system (and the heatpump).

Until then, I'm afraid there will be very little to report from our project. (Nobody showed up today either - so I guess they're planning a busy end to this week).
















The attached picture shows one page from the Users Guide that follows our new ventilation aggregate. In the middle of the picture there is something standing up like a factory chimney with a mysterious thing at the end (marked 5). This is the discharge of extract ("used") air. I have pointed out that the discharge of extract air from our house is creating too much noice - and reminded them of the fact that there should be a silencer at the end (it's not here now).

The picture also shows noice-traps on the pipes coming in to- and when the air is leaving the aggregate (for distribution in the house). These noice traps are also missing, but I hope they will fix this before hand-over next Tuesday.

The most critical point except for the noice level, is the ventilation system's ability to both effectively capture the energy in the exhaust air - and to distribute the heat from the heatpump. In my last blog post I mentioned that I believe they have to alter the solution to make this work (adding the heated air AFTER the heat-exchanger in the aggregate). We'll see one week from now....

A day in between

Event 1: China sets emissions target
China has announced a target to cut the greenhouse intensity of its economy by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020, its contribution to the Copenhagen climate treaty negotiations. The target means a lowering of carbon emissions per unit of GDP only – not making absolute cuts to emissions nor cutting emissions by a set amount below business-as-usual levels. The government also announced that Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the conference in person next month.

http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1750

Comment> While China and other developing countries have never been expected to set targets for absolute emission cuts, analysis of China’s carbon footprint suggests that the target is not particularly ambitious. See more comments on the CO2 emissions from China vs USA below (under Event 2).

Event 2: Climate change - Copenhagen in graphics
As the UN summit in Copenhagen approaches, BBC looks at the past, present and possible futures of climate change. This article provides a good summary of the situation we are in - and it contains interesting graphs.


The graph I have included here shows where we need to be in 2030 in terms of gigatonnes of CO2 emissions - to stay below 2C global warming. It shows that even with the current best case scenario for the Copenhagen summit - we'll miss the target by approximately 6 Gt.

One of the other graphs from BBC (not included here) illustrates that in the first years of the new century, China's emissions overtook those of the US.

We should keep in mind, however, that China and India produce a much smaller amount per capita than counterparts in regions such as North America or Western Europe. Countries that industrialised early and grew rich early because of that industrialisation, such as the UK, Germany and the US, have a higher "historical footprint". In some peoples' eyes, this gives them a higher responsibility for curbing the problem (ref my previous comments on "the CO2 Space").


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8359629.stm


Progress report:
Nobody showed up to finish the work yesterday - and it doesn't look like they will do any work here today either. I hope and believe that many new families will convert their houses to a JAHUS-standard in the next few years, but hopefully they get an easier ride than what we have had. The good news, however, is that I now feel quite confident that (with a few small adjustments) - our JAHUS will be as comfortable and energy efficient as we had hoped for.


To verify that the heat exchange inside the ventilation aggregate works as expected, I closed the valve that regulates the amount of heated air from the heatpump that is currently being mixed with the fresh air BEFORE the aggregate. This means that it now gets cold fresh air at 5C as input and it exchanges energy with the outgoing exhaust air which holds ca 20C.


The test shows that the aggregate works nicely (and as expected) when there is no heated air mixed in with the cold outside air. The air that flows out of the aggregate and into the house goes from 5C to 17C and the air leaving the house comes in at 20C and leaves the house at 10C.

I have created a flow chart that illustrates how the system would look like if they move the point of entry for the heated air - to after the aggregate. I still haven't received an answer from the ventilation team regarding this suggestion.

Higher energy prices? Yes please

Event 1: A global energy market?

Many contributions to the local debate here in Norway has argued that we should avoid adding to the transmission capacity of electricity between Norway and the rest of Europe. There are talks about this initiative being driven by profit-hunger from the already rich energy companies (and bonus/salary payments to management in these companies). This is quite possibly one of the driving forces, but I believe there are far more important considerations.


Our time's biggest challenge is global warming, and in the background there is a looming energy crisis. How much energy saving- (and hence CO2 reduction-) projects will be initiated if electricity prices in Norway are totally out of sync with the rest of Europe? Look to the USA and what low gasoline prices have done to the the use- and size of of cars, and how high energy prices have changed the daily routines to the better in Europe (if you don't walk up the stairs fast enough, the lights will be switched off).


Does Norway want to be the scapegoat in environmental issues, and countries such as France is considered one of the leaders in CO2 reductions? France has had energy-conscious people for years, and now they also have extra incentives for implementing energy-saving measures in the house (interestfree loans up to 30,000 Euros over 10 years) which, together with high electricity prices make it financially attractive for private households to order "jahus" projects (extra insulation, heatpumps etc). The government in France achieves not only increased economic activity, but is also reducing the unemployment problem and the ability to fulfill their part of the CO2-cutting task that we all have to deal with the (all people to the oars - for we are all in the same boat).


There are also more technical arguments why we need to add more cables between Norway and Europe. This fall, we had two examples of large quantities of clean energy being lost because we lacked the capacity for the exchange of energy between Denmark and Norway.

• In Denmark there was a storm and since it was weekend, it was not enough demand for power from the grid - so they had to simply disconnect the wind turbines (the power grid has no function to store energy).


• That same week, there was a headline story on teh TV2 news that the BKK had to let the water in their reservoirs flow down the mountainside - outside the turbines because the electricity generated was more than the demand in the powergrid.

When there is no wind in Europe, they should be able to use hydropower from Norway (which we can save and "let go" when it suits us). Similarly, they should be able to export energy to us when there is plenty of wind - we can use this energy to pump water into reservoirs in the mountains. Norway then stores excess energy until some time in the future when there is no wind in Denmark (or clouds in Spain - so that solar plants do not produce electricity).


It can be repeated until it becomes tedious, we are all in the same boat and 1 ton of CO2 not emitted from a coal fired power plant in Europe (because they have access to clean energy from Norway) is equally important to our planet as 1 tonne of reduced CO2 emissions from rush hour traffic in Oslo, if we all use or bikes to work. Wouldn't everyone in Norway rather have Europe buy electricity from Norway (the majority goes straight to the Treasury = us) than to have BKK sending water outside the turbines while at the same time there are power plants in Europe fueled by coal (sending one kilogram of CO2 into the atmosphere for every 1KWh produced)?

I therefore strongly believe that we must (as soon as possible):

1. Get the current electricity prices of our synchronized with the rest of Europe


2. Increase the capacity of power transmissions between Europe and Norway


3. The government should, through the Norwegian State Housing Bank, channel some of the extra revenue (higher electricity prices/increased exports) to measures that further incentivates private households to start "jahus" projects (interest-free loans as in France and VAT / tax exemption as in Germany and the USA).

Progress:

Yesterday, I called the technical director at a norwegian manufacturer of ventilation systems (Flexit). We discussed the solution being implemented here and he fully supported my claim - that the heated air from the heatpump should be mixed with the fresh outside air AFTER the heat-exchanger.

There has been no progress to report all week, and the team has refused to comment on the issue of "point of entry" for the heated air. Next Tuesday is the hand-over day and as far as I can see there is quite a lot of work remaining (pump, noice, point-of-entry etc.)....

Silence is golden

Event 1:

President Obama to Attend Copenhagen Climate Talks:
http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/11/25/president-obamas-copenhagen-pitch/

Comment> The fact that he is coming is good, but he arrives a week before the other heads of state - and most people had expected much more comittment than CO2 cuts in the range of 17% below 2005 (which equals no more than the 3-4% from the 1990 level). This also well below what IPCC says is required to avoid dramatic climate changes.

Event 2:
The weather here in Norway is really bad these days and the newspapers today included such headlines as "It's raining - but the price of electricity drops". In the same newspapers, the discussions continue on whether or not we should increase the capacity of power cables between Norway and the rest of Europe.

Comment> How can the government expect people to invest in energy saving measures at home (like JAHUS) if the price of electricity keeps falling - rather than to synch with the rest of Europe? If the price came up to its proper level - not only would more people save more energy at home, but the mostly state-owned power companies would make more money that the government could use for incentives that will drive more energy saving projects.

Progress:
The title "silence is golden" was chosen since much of the focus now is on reducing the noice from the ventilation system. When we came home from work today, the system was running on medium effect (normal) - so it seems as though they agree that we need "normal" effect to get the required supply of fresh air.

During the day they have added a noice-trap to reduce the noice in our guestroom (see the attached picture of the noice trap).

Directly in front of the noice trap is something that looks like a valve.

If it is, I think it is a good idea - because I was afraid that the room next to the ventilation room gets much more than it's fair share of the fresh "supply air" (both the noice level and holding your hand up to the outlet gave an impression of much more airflow than in the livingroom upstairs). I guess we'll have to wait for the handover to find out what their plan is...

According to the users guide from the manufacturer of the aggregate there should be noice traps all the piping going in and out of the aggregate - and on the outlet (where the exhaust air is blown out of the house). All these noicetraps are still missing.

I also think they finished the extra loop today. It will provide cool air from the basement to the bedrooms upstairs on hot summer nights (to keep the bedrooms cooler than the rest of the house).

I have created a flowchart that illustrates the flow of air through our ventilation system - and I attached it below for those who are interested. If you have comments or suggestions, please don't hesitate to use the comment input field (at the bottom of this blog).

Behind the scenes of climate negotiations

FORMAT CHANGE:
Now that the pressure is building up for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15 in 12 days), there are many events that I want to share with you, and discuss. At the same time, our JAHUS project goes into a phase with smaller changes/steps and hence little to report from day to day. I will therefore start the blog-entries with comments to recent events, and I will end the blog posts with a report from our own JAHUS project.

EVENT 1: MIXING WATER TO GET ELECTRICITY
The Norwegian company Statkraft opened the world’s first osmotic power prototype today.“This new technology generates electricity simply by mixing water. New solutions to meet the climate challenges might be closer than we expect, which makes me confident that the future looks bright,” says Statkraft CEO and President, Baard Mikkelsen.


The global potential of osmotic power is estimated to be 1,600-1,700 TWh per annum, equivalent to 50 percent of the EU’s total power production. Osmotic power plants can, in principle, be located wherever fresh water runs into the sea; they produce no noise or polluting emissions and they can be integrated into existing industrial zones, for example, in the basements of industrial buildings.


http://www.statkraft.com/presscentre/press-releases/the-worlds-first-osmotic-power-prototype-opens-today.aspx

EVENT 2: BEHIND THE SCENES OF CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS
What will happen in Copenhagen? Can the world be saved by this summit? This was the agenda when the think tank Civita hosted a breakfast meeting this morning.

Keynote speaker was Norway's chief negotiator Hanne Bjurstrøm (and she will be Minister of Labor after the Copenhagen summit). Terje Osmundsen, director of strategies and business development in the norwegian solar energy company Scatec Solar, then commented on the keynote.

I found the session very interesting and want to share some of the highlights with you.

The target for climate negotiations
The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (http://www.ipcc.ch/) is the leading body for the assessment of climate change, established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences. In 2007 they received the Nobel Peace Prize (sharing it with Al Gore).

IPCC says that industrialized countries must reduce CO2 emissions by 25-40% by 2020 (compared to 1990) if we should have a hope of keeping the global warming from increasing beyond 2C. According to IPCC this is a level at which we can avoid the most dramatic scenarios of global warming - and is now accepted by most countries as the target for all climate talks.

IPCC also say that CO2 must be cut by 50% by 2050, but more than 40 years ahead - there is no real discussion or negotiations about this target. All emphasis is on getting sufficient cuts by 2020.

Terje Osmundsen said that it is no longer a game of numbers, but a more fundamental issue that requires the mobilization of all people (like the rest of Europe must have felt when they were fighting "the Third Reich" from 1940-45). It is either win this war or face certain catastrophy.

One other way to look at it is: you can not afford to wait and see, and then try to compensate for what you see (control engineering). With the threat of dramatic climate changes it is too late "to turn the ship" in 2020 when the first actual dramatic changes can be observed - we must act now. It is a fact that cutting 1% CO2 in 2010 is worth a lot more than the same amount in 2030.

Current assessment
The average committment from industrialized countries is currently at approximately 17% now - so according to IPCC these committments must be raised to at least 25% for the world to stay below 2C global warming.

Not only should industrialized countries (who stands for most of the CO2 emissions) stand for 80% of the CO2 cuts - but we will not reach our target unless even the developing countries cut 20% (compared to 1990).

How to achieve these cuts
Developing counties: There will be transfer of funds from industrialized countries to developing countries upfront to help them build systems and reporting on CO2 emissions. Later there will be payments for achieved tasks (they will commit to specific lists of tasks and not a specific % reduction in CO2 emissions). If we get a working market for CO2 quotas, the markets will also take care of a transfer of funds from industrialized countries to the developing countries.

Industrialized countries: the realistic target for COP15 is a binding political agreement and industrial countries must quickly come up with plans (and milestones) to implement the cuts they have comitted to. The participants in todays session criticized the Norwegian government for being good at setting high targets - but not so good at producing plans or taking actions (like introducing incentives for improving the energy efficiency of the many old homes - ref the JAHUS project).

Challenges:
There are of course many challenges they face when they meet in Copenhagen. I will list some of them here.

One question from the audience: "only 80% cuts in the industrialized countries? Shouldn't it have been 120%?" The answer....

When China talks about "the CO2 space" they mean that there is a limited CO2 space in the world and the industrialized countries have used (or taken up) a majority of this space. Now when China, India and other developing countries are being industrialized too - their growth will be curbed because the CO2 space is almost "sold out". Most countries agree that this is a correct description of the situation. Industrialized countries will be responsible for 80% of the cuts (from higher levels), but as mentioned above even the developing countries need to cut CO2 by ca 20%. It may seem unfair to most of us, and India can safely claim that they will never be responsible for as much CO2 emissions as the best performing industrialized country - but nevertheless it is an unfortunate fact that we must all pull together to reach the 2C target.

Russia was given CO2 emission quotas in Kyoto, that were higher than they actually need now - because of more problematic business development than expected during the Kyoto negotiations. They have therefore accumulated considerable amounts of CO2 quotas that they of course will insist on pulling forward into the new agreement. Even if Russia commits to 25% cuts it will not be enough because they can actually increase CO2 emissions and still be compliant (because of the unused CO2 quotas pulled forward). EU will similarly get "a free ride" from the membership countries who also have accumulated CO2 quotas.

We live in a global world, and if we produce goods in our own country - the CO2 emissions increase here. If we, however, move the production to another country - we look like a compliant country and the CO2 effect of the goods we import adds to the CO2 emission reports in the country where the products were produced. USA has suggested a special CO2 import tax - but India is clearly against such a move. Understandably so - because this would be like introducing new trade barriers and it would be more expensive for consumers in USA to buy products from China or India (World Trade Organization is fighting all such trade barriers).

PROGRESS IN OUR JAHUS PROJECT:
As mentioned yesterday, we have doubts about some of the solutions that have been implemented by the ventilation team. These issues were described in an email to the company yesterday, and today we received a brief response.

They will answer all the questions/comments when they hand over the project to us (when they have finished everything and feel they can be proud of the result).

At least they agreed to my suggested location for pulling the cool air into the separate ventilation loop that will provide the 4 bedrooms with colder air than the other rooms in the house). Not sure what they plan for the extra supply of air to this room (as they will be pulling air out of a quite small room). It does not seem like they liked the idea of using some of the air from above the heatpump on the other side of the wall (colder than the outside air in the summer months). The other question about the air being pulled into the aggregate is too warm was not answered - so I guess we'll have to wait for the handover to see what they actually did about that problem.

I read the instruction manual for the aggregate today and found out that it must be running on the medium setting (what they call "NORMAL") to provide the house with enough fresh air (500 cubic meters per hour). This setting means much more noice - and when I mentioned this, the ventilation team said that it should be sufficient air supply if we use the lowest setting (the manufacturer call this setting "Going Away"). My response to the team was that I expect the solution to deliver 500 cubic meters per hour as it is stated in the contract - and they can do (almost) whatever they like to achieve this. If this means running the aggregate at medium/normal effect, then they will have to add more silencers on the ducts/piping and in the cabinet they use for the transport of air to- and from- the rooms on the first floor (via the attic).

We are waiting in cautious optimism for the actual handover day.

Even though they had promised to come here today - it seemed to me that nothing had been done when I arrived early from work at 2pm (planned to work from home the rest of the day and answer any questions they may have). One hour later one guy showed up with some supplies, but because he had been injured by a knife in a workrelated accident earlier today (two fingers had been stitched) - he was in too much pain to do any work today. He left after 15 minutes. I later found out that he had actually started the project of adding an extra loop to the bedroom (adding another pipe from the attic through the cabinet to the basement).

Waiting, waiting....

Progress:
The electrician showed up today and I think he has finished all that was needed by the ventilation team. Now the rest is up to the ventilation team, but they did not come today - and have not said anything about the plan to finish their project.

At the moment the temperature of the air that blows out of the building is the same as the temperature that is distributed to the rooms in our house (only 16C). There is definitely a need for calibration of the system - and if I'm not mistaken the ventilation team also has to make some changes to make it work as intended. I have provided them with a few suggestions that I think will improve the distribution of heated air - and at the same time utilizing the aggregate to "pull" energy out of the used air before it leaves the house.

One example: To get the most out of the exchange of energy between cold incoming air and warm "used" air I would think that the incomming air must be cold - and not mixed with heated air from the heatpump. Shouldn't the heated air be mixed with the fresh air after the aggregate? Looking forward to hear the response from the ventilation team.

Events:
As I'm writing this blog post, there is a program on the TV and the agenda is "global warming - true or false".

In the introduction they started with a look back at the 1970s - when the scientists predicted that we were entering a new ice age. We now know that their assumptions were wrong, and we have later observed that the average temperature in the world is rising.

Charles David Keeling published the first report on CO2 in the atmosphere as early as 1958. He continued to measure CO2 and after a few years the trend was clear - the CO2 content increases year over year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keeling_Curve). CO2 captures the heat on its way out from our planet - and increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere creates the greenhouse effect (global warming).

The Jason report on climate changes came in 1979 "Title Long term impact of atmospheric carbon dioxide on climate. Technical report JSR-78-07": The warming of climate will not necessarily lead to improved living conditions everywhere. Changes in sea level, in agricultural productivity, and in water availability can be anticipated, but the dimensions of their economic, political, or social consequences can not."

The Reagan administration in USA ordered another scientific report and their conclusion was different - there is no need to do anything. Later during the 80s and 90s the politicians could no longer close their eyes for the scientific evidence. Now, most world leaders have said that they will come to Copenhagen in December for the UN lead conference on climate chages.

Don't worry, I will not report on all the historic events they talked about in the program. It was interesting to see more of the scientific work behind the common view of the connection between CO2 emissions and potentially dramatic climate changes. Yes, the scientists have been wrong before (ice age/1970), but can we afford to not listen to the almost unison warning from the science community and world leaders?

(As discussed in an earlier blog post, there is also a different reason for reducing the use of fossile fuels - the reports of a looming energy crisis).

What will happen in Copenhagen? Can the world be saved by this summit?
The think tank Civita has invited to a breakfast meeting tomorrow (Nov 24th.) Keynote speaker is Norway's chief negotiator Hanne Bjurstrøm (and Minister of Labor after the Copenhagen summit). Terje Osmundsen, director of strategies and business development in the norwegian solar energy company Scatec Solar, will then comment on the keynote. I am looking forward to hear what these people have to say - now that we are only a few weeks from the Copenhagen summit.

First day in our "new home"

Status:
For the first time in years we slept without opening the door (from our bedroom) to the small veranda outside. We used to open the door to get the desired supply of fresh air through the night, but hoped that the ventilation system would take care of this now that we live in a "JAHUS"...and the jury says:

Nice. We had enough fresh air, and because the door had been closed there was:

• no noice from people passing the house on their way home from a party/nachspiel. The new door not only keeps the energy inside the house, but it is very effective in shielding us from noice from outside the house
• higher room temperature (but not too high) compared to the "open door scenario"

Now that the ventilation system was running, we were ready for the inauguration of the refurbished bathroom - including the new shower (picture attached below).

This morning I got up early for a nice 1hour bicycle ride under clear blue skies (with the nice colours you see when the sun is rising). When I came back I used the shower upstairs for the first time - and it was as nice as I had hoped for. As I came out of the shower, my daughters called and said the breakfast was ready - what a nice day to start a Saturday :-)
















The point of sharing this with you? There was no noice from the ventilation system, but the "fog" in the bathroom did not clear as fast as I had hoped for. We'll have to ask the specialists for advise on how to increase the effect on the ventilation from this room (from this room the system only pulls air out - the air is "refilled" from nearby rooms, under the door etc.)

One pleasant surprise this morning was that the heatpump had adjusted it self down to a very low noice-level. The excessive noice we experienced yesterday was probably the result of some start-up sequence.

I have now adjusted the different valves of the ventilation system to maximise the circulation of the heated air from the heatpump - and it seems to work fine. All rooms in the house is on approximately 21C and without the help of other heating than the heatpump.

I purchased a bunch of cheap thermometers and placed them in different locations throughout the house to monitor the effects of different settings in the ventilation system. Yes, the specialists will do this for us on Monday - but the readers who know me, know that I like to find out how these things work without reading the manual or getting help from specialists......

When I have had the "beginners crash-course" in our JAHUS solution, I will provide you with a more detailed description of the solution and how we achieve cooler temperature in the bedrooms etc. (using the valves and settings on the heatpump, the ventilation aggregate and the new fan).

For the readers who know us and have been to our house before, I have also included a picture from the new restroom (WC):

Events:
In a local newspaper today (Dagens Naeringsliv), a key article on page 2 was written by a senior journalist who is very sceptical to the actual environment value of migrating from fossil fuels to biodiesel/bioethanol. As mentioned in earlier blog-posts, there is a very heated debate in Norway these days about removing the taxes benefits for cars running on biodiesel. The journalist refers to recently published scientific report that questions the CO2 benefit:



Newly agreed EU legislation on biofuels and fuel quality are highly unlikely to reduce CO2 emissions from transport fuel used in Europe. T&E and other environmental organisations are proposing substantial changes, in particular to address the environmental impact of indirect land use change (ILUC) caused by increased biofuel production. Download the report Biofuels: Handle with care and summary in English, French and German

He says that not only are the benefits of biodiesel projects questionable and at best very ineffective, but keeping the lower taxlevel on these cars only encourages a migration from thirsty diesel SUVs to thirsty biodiesel SUVs.

Comments: As if I should have said it myself :-) Compare 180 USD per ton of CO2 estimated for biodiesel efforts versus the reduction 5 tons of CO2 per USD invested in JAHUS projects..... (http://thejahusblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/for-nerds-or-you-and-me.html)

• Look to the Netherlands where they are changing from taxing the cars to taxing the use of cars. They will be paying for kilometers driven per year regardless of the type of fuel used (except, I guess, for elcars - and I hope with higher taxlevels for SUVs than small cars).
• In Norway we're also talking about a special rush-hour tax during rush-hour in the big cities (to get people over on public transportation)

We now live in a JAHUS

Progress:
We are sitting in our livingroom watching TV. The temperature is a comfortable 22-23C and there is fresh air coming from the ventilation system (without a sound). I have checked and the heat provided by the heatpump (and distributed by the ventilation system) is more than enough to hold the desired roomtemperature, without the help of our wall-mounted panel heaters (with thermostats). We have waited quite a long time for this moment, but I can already say thet our first JAHUS experience is definitely a pleasant one.

Let me first turn the clock back to ca 4pm when we arrived home from work. Expectations were high, but unfortunately there was disappointment - again. Yes, the heatpump was running - but also making quite a lot of noice. I left it like that, and "rushed" in to the ventilationroom to verify that the ventilation system was running. From my intro you understand that nothing had been done in the ventilationroom today.

I called the project leader and asked him why the electrician had done nothing in the ventilation room. He promised to check and call me back. Few minutes later he called back and said that he wasn't able to get in contact with the electrician. I asked him if we could use a power cord extension from the nearest outlet to be able to start the ventilation aggregate. He promised to check with the ventilation specialists, and after a while he called back and said that the specialist would return to Kolbotn and start the system for us.

Then, when the specialist arrived - he only used a few minutes to get the system initialized and started. They still have to program the system (different effect during daytime versus night) and calibrate the system (heatpump and ventilation system working together), but finally the JAHUS system is running :-)

After some testing I found a program that seems to work quite well without the extreme noice and variations we experienced initally. The heatpump needs more adjustments, but that can wait for the experts to take care of on Monday.

Events:
Following the biodiesel discussions in Norway.....

"Dutch first in Europe to adopt green tax for cars"
Drivers will have to pay per kilometer driven in a bid to end chronic traffic jams and cut carbon emissions. The system, which will use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to monitor cars, could be used as a test case for other countries weighing options for easing crowded roads. Singapore has a similar scheme for charging according to the amount of travel.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dutch-first-in-europe-to-adopt-green-tax-for-cars-1821268.html

Comment: A bold and positive move that I hope other countries will follow. It is a pity, however, that this tax doesn't favor small and energyefficient cars. They will probably find a solution that a "SUV-km" is more expensive than other "small-car kilometers".

"Yes-house (jahus) or no house"

Are you living in a "no-house" (poor isolation and old windows) and are wondering how to bring your house from where it is today - to a "JAHUS" standard? We have spent a lot of time and discussed with many vendors before we ended up with our jahus design. I hope that my previous blog-posts have been helpful, and that in the next few days - I can share with you the actual results of this project (and some more details on cost versus benefits).

Key take-aways can of course be that projects hardly ever finish on time, or that ventilation requires more space than you had expected - but I do hope you will see that it is worth it and start planning for a jahus project as well.

Progress:
One heatpump specialist actually showed up today and now the outdoor part of the heatpump is connected to the rest of the system - including the special heat pump refrigerant that flows between the outdoor- and the indoor part of the heatpump.










The electrician, however, did not show up - so the ventilation system and heat pump can not be switched on yet. He has promised to show up tomorrow, so maybe - if the ventilation team also shows up (they are not here today), then we can start the whole system?

If you live in California or Spain you are probably more concerned about the effects during the summer - and theoretically you should do more or less the same things that we have described in our JAHUS projects:

1. Isolate: to keep the heat out during the summer months, but also to keep the cold out during a few winter months. I once stayed in a draughty appartment in Spain (Costa del Sol) over Christmas and it was the coldest Christmas I can remember. There is a lot to gain from isolation in these parts of the world too - winter and summer.


2. Ventilate: to get the appropriate level of fresh air supplied to all rooms. In the summer the energy exchanger makes sure the cool "used air" cools down the fresh outdoor air before this "used air" is sent out of the building (now almost the same as the outside temperature)


3. A/C (heatpump): cools down the air coming out of the energy-exchanger an extra 5C (to comfort temperature at 22C). The ventilation system mentioned above is responsible for the distribution of this "ready for use" air to all the rooms in the house.

The pictures below show:

• the indoor part of the heatpump: and in the lower right part of the picture you see a small piece of the unfinished piping that eventually will take the condensate away from the heatpump (when cooling air in the summer months)
• the piping inside the heatpump: including the new piping with the gray sound trap surrounding the piping on the left hand side of the picture.

Event 1:
There is also a heated discussion in Norway about the need for more power cables between Norway and the continent.

The opponents say that:

• the price of electricity will increase: the utility companies will make huge profits and the average consumer will be paying the price
• loss of jobs: industries who survive because of low energy prices will not be competitive with energy prices that are in synch with the rest of Europe

Proponents say:

• Global: Europe needs the buffer that norwegian hydropower represents. When windmills produce more power than the grid takes out, Norway can use this excess power to pump water up to the mountain dams (storing the excess energy). When the windmills stop because there is no wind, the grid can buy back hydroelectric power from Norway (produced by releasing some of the water from the dams (through the turbines in the powerstations below).
• Businesses: To deliver electricity to the industry at prices well below marketprice is subsidies - and most people agree that this protectionism is a bad thing. If the can't make a profit with the marketprice on power then they must be closed down (or be given a grace period to change their processes).
• Consumers: to deliver cheaper than marketprice electricity to consumers delays the already overdue process of improving the isolation of houses and the deployment of other energy-saving tasks such as heatpumps and smart ventilation systems.

On a smaller scale there is also issues regarding the availability of a powergrid that offshore windmills can use to send their "product" to the consumers. Today there are many offshore windmills in the UK which are not connected to a grid and therefore are not being used...

Who should pay for these infrastructure projects?

• sending or receiving countries ?
• the power companies who have the most to gain if the market expands and they get a higher price for their product (both internationally and locally).
• the users (extra infrastructure fee)?

When do we need these new cables? Yesterday!

It's not like we don't have internationally connected powergrids today, but the capacity is way too low. Two very real examples are from the news this fall: first we had a weekend with quite a lot of wind in Denmark and they reported that the windmills had to be decoupled because the grid could not take all the energy produced (and there is no way to store unused energy in the powergrid). A week later there was reports of dams (owned by BKK) on the west cost of Norway where they deliberately let water pass outside the turbines because the dams were too full and there were nowhere to send the excess power.

My comments:

The high mountains and ability to build dams and create hydroelectric power is a gift from nature to Norway - and we have an obligation to share this with the other "less fortunate" countries. Similarly - it makes more sense to build solar powerplants closer to the equator. The only low-carbon alternative to this symbiosis between dams in Norway and windmills in Denmark and UK - is the roll out of more nuclear powerplants and I don't think the opponents want that....

Summary: Pull more powercables between Norway and continental Europe - now.

Event 2:

California regulators on Wednesday passed new regulations to ban power-hungry flat screen televisions from store shelves.

Why propose energy efficiency standards for televisions now?
In California, televisions (along with DVRs, DVD players, and cable boxes) now consume 10 percent of a home's electricity. Increasing sales of flat screen televisions, larger screen sizes, the growing number of TVs per household, and increased daily use of televisions all contribute to greater electricity consumption.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/appliances/tv_faqs.html

My comments:

One could argue that the energy/electricity used in a TV does not just disappear, it is transformed to heat. In the winter, this heat is required to keep the houses warm (for example here in Norway). The heat generated by the TV therefore replaces heat that would otherwise be produced by a heatpump or wall-mounted panel heaters with thermostats. (Keep in mind that 1KWh used in a heatpump generates 3 times as much heat as 1 KWh used in a TV).

In the summer months, however, heat generated by our electrical appliances and lights mean double trouble - they use electricity to work and we need electricity to "fight the heat" (for those homes and businesses which use airconditioning units to keep cool).

Summarized: more energyefficient TVs will have a positive affect too ("many small streams make a big river").

Soon we're ready for "launch"

Progress:
Finally the team has agreed to install a separate ventilation loop that will send cooler air from the cellar to the 4 bedrooms (as we originally planned). I expect this solution to make our bedrooms cooler than the other rooms all year long. This is how we want it, and at the same time the lower temperature in the bedrooms will give us reduced energy for heating as a bonus.

Yesterday, I also pointed out that they had forgotten to ventilate the ventilation room. Yes, there is a lot of piping and equipment there, but no ventilation of the room itself (adding fresh air and pulling out "used air"). They have agreed to fix this tomorrow.

They have also promised to connect the outdoor part of the heatpump to the rest of the system tomorrow morning. Hopefully the electrician will also show up and provide them with the hook-up they need to start the ventilation system and the heatpump. We should then be able to start the system (even if they'll still be installing the extra loop to the bedroom).

My hope is that everything is finished by the end of this week - but I have been disappointed before, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Events:
In Norway there is currently a heated debate about biodiesel. Because it seemed like a good idea at the time, the government adopted a new law that says all diesel sold in norwegian gas stations must include at least 2.5% biodiesel (later this will be raised to 5%). Today they added an extra tax on bio-diesel.

I guess the reason for the new tax is that they now see that biodiesel, while CO2 neutral, have serious negative effects that politicians were not aware of at the time (?):

• CO2: Rainforests have to yield to plantations that will grow biological material for the production of biodiesel. A lot of CO2 is going up into the atmosphere as a result of burning the trees, and in the future these trees will no longer slurp CO2 from the surrounding air and produce O2 (as part of the photosynthesis)
• Food: Farmland is transformed from growing food to "grow biodiesel". Many people worry about the planet's ability to feed all the people living here - and we don't need this effect !

The thing many people don't understand (myself included) is that they're not removing the 2.5% rule. The tax will therefore not affect the amount of biodisel used in Norway - just adding more tax. The only positive thing you can say about this move is that all tax on fuel could theoretically reduce the use of cars running on fossil fuel.

"To ventilate or not to ventilate - that is the question"

Progress:
Today when I came home from work, the original renovation of a bedroom, the bathroom and a guest restroom had been completed. The last part they finished today was to install the 2 mirrors with the integrated lights and associated light-switches. We are looking forward to try the new shower/bathroom, but we still have to wait for the ventilation system to be started (to pull the warm/humid air out of the bathroom) .

The ventilation team did not show up today and the remaining installation tasks are listed below:

• The internal piping is nearly finished - unless we end up with the original design which includes a separate loop of ventilation pipes (see comments below)
• The outdoor part of the heatpump has now been delivered, but they still have to connect it to the indoor part of the heatpump
• They still haven't put in place the mechanism for transportation of water from the indoor-part of the heatpump to the drainage point in the restroom (WC). This water comes from the humidity in the air that condenses when the air is being cooled down in the summer.
  

In my previous blog-post I mentioned that the ventilation team had changed the solution without discussing this change with me. I was upset, but politely asked for an explanation. In their response yesterday they tried to convince me that a single pipe from the hallway to the ventilation aggregate was a better solution than the original design that included a completely separate loop (with a separate fan) from the cellar to the 4 bedrooms above on the first floor.

I have explained to them that I must be convinced that the solution can provide us with cooler air in the bedrooms than the rest of the house – and the new design doesn’t seem to deliver this as well as the original design. Last night I sent an email response saying that, unless they can come up with a better answer, I want the original design.

The response came this afternoon, but I still don't see how a system that sends the same fresh and heated/cooled air to all the rooms (including bedrooms) - can be better and more flexible than the original design that was based on two entirely separated systems. I have again told them what is important to us and asked for a detailed explanation.

Events:
USA and China talks spark new hope for results in Copenhagen:

"Obama, Hu seek to reinvigorate Copenhagen climate talks"

On climate, Obama said the United States and China are looking for a comprehensive deal during next month's climate change conference in Copenhagen that will "rally the world". Obama said the goal at the December meeting should be an agreement that has "immediate operational effect", not just a political declaration.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, speaking on the sidelines of the two-day meeting, lauded China and the United States' support for his country's push to reach a politically binding agreement at the conference to take "immediate operational effect."
"I am glad that the Danish strategy was supported today in Beijing at the Chinese-American summit ... it confirms that we have taken the right stance," Rasmussen told reporters.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/11/17/09/denmark-lauds-us-china-support-climate-talks

"Faith leaders present to U.N. 60 plans to help fight climate change"

Leaders of nine major faiths have presented 60 ideas for lessening carbon emissions to the United Nations after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon singled out the religious community as key in fighting climate change.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-11-10-faith-climate-change_N.htm

Electric appliances such as cooker, washing machine, TV, computers and coffee machines account for 41 percent of electricity consumption in norwegian homes, according to figures from Statistics Norway (Statistisk Sentralbyraa). Back in 1990 these products were responsible for "only" 28 percent of private household electricity consumption.

People do not necessarily throw the old components, but re-use them in the summer house. Or they end up in the basement, where for example the old refrigerator gets a new role as a wine cooler. We have more money to spend and a different lifestyle, and technological developments have also provided us with multiple devices, said Arne Morten Johnsen in Enova to the newspaper "Vaart Land" (Our Country).

When Christmas is approaching, we will see increasing sales of electrical goods that we perhaps could have managed without, he believes. People have different perceptions of what constitutes a good life and good comfort, but maybe we could drop some of the "nice to have" stuff and stick to the things we really need, said Johnsen.

Back from a weekend in Paris

Comments:
A few days of silence was caused by a weekend trip to Paris (not something you want to announce publicly on the Internet before you go). Now that we're back I want to share with you some comments...

As we drove back frome the airport last night the top story on the local news was: "the norwegian delegation to the UN conference on climate changes in Copenhagen says that dramatic changes have to take place to limit the global warming to 2C. We should not shower for a few minutes less or drop our trip Paris, but isolate our houses and get fossil-fuel cars off the roads."

This was my point exactly in an earlier blog-post and I was pleased to hear that even the governments speaks of JAHUS projects as one very obvious and achivable route to the numbers we need. We will only get the "big numbers" if houses are brought up to the low energy house standard (less than 100KWh/sq m per year) - and the good news is that such JAHUS projects also improve the standard of living and most of the cost is paid for by savings on the electricity bill. So, we don't feel guilty for flying to Paris even though our friends make fun (in a nice way) of the commitment and energy we put into the JAHUS project. They too are beginning to see that it is not ajusting the travel plans or reduced shower time that will get us were we need to be.

Progress:
While in Paris I emailed with the team back in our house. Not much happened in the house, but there was a heated discussion about the ventilation system.

I have been asking them again and again when they plan to finish and used as an example the fact that I don't see the fan that we had ordered or the 3 big pipes (I see only 2) going from the ground floor up to the first floor and onwards up ot the attic for distribution to the different rooms. On Friday they tried to "pull a quick one" and said that there had been a change of plans and the separate loop for colder air from the gound floor to the bedrooms - had been replaced by a pipe from the hall to the ventilation room.

I explained that we had agreed to the original solution (suggested by them) because it will give us cooler temperature in the bedrooms than the other areas of the house. Even without the heatpump running as A/C on hot summer nights, we will get cool air from the cellar/ground floor delivered to our bedrooms on the first floor. The price for the total solution including the extra fan had been agreed to and we placed the order in September. I therefore told them that they either deliver what we have agreed to - or they explain to me how this new design will be better than the original design (and if so, how much will the price go down).

I somehow feel like a difficult customer, but shouldn't they have discussed this with me prior to totally changing the solution that we have agreed to? It feels like they have taken over the house and do with it what they please, but I can't have it that way...

The construction entrepreneur responsible for the project agrees with me and is meeting with the subcontractor (ventilation) later today to discuss this issue. Meanwhile the house is now so well isolated, but without supply of fresh air - that we have to open windows briefly every now and then until the ventilation system is finished.

Global and national events:
On Saturday the local newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv ("Daily Business") included a story about a state owned property company (ROM) who had found the process of applying for the extra funds allocated for energysaving measures in public buildings (from Enova) too bureaucratic - so they gave up.

The director of Byggenaeringens Landsforening (the organization for the construction industry) says in a comment that the program is not good enough for small size projects and private homes - this is where 40% of all energy for lights and heating is being used. If reductions are needed - they have to do better here.

I couldn't agree more.

On deforestation:
By the year 2020, the Lula government (Brazil) has vowed to cut deforestation by 80 percent from a base of 19,500 sq. km. Such reductions are vital because a large part of Brazil’s CO2 emissions come from burning land in order to use it for agriculture. Worldwide, tropical deforestation in nations such as Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounts for more CO2 emissions than all the exhaust from cars, boats, and planes combined. As we all know, these trees would otherwise continue to slurpe CO2 (as part of the photosynthesis) - making deforestation a "double trouble" issue.

Personal:
The trip to Paris was a huge success :-) My wife and I left for Paris on Friday morning and stayed in a nice hotel not far from the Opera and Galleries Lafayette (shopping paradise). For the first time we found that the concierge in the hotel actually was very helpful in finding nice restaurants for us. The highlight, though, was a restaurant we read about in the free tourist magazine Where Paris (November edition) "The New Stars in the Kitchens of Paris". They were so newly established that the concierge had not heard of them, but he called the restaurant Jardin d'Ampère on Friday afternoon and managed to get us a reservation for Saturday night (8 pm).

It was 10 minutes by taxi (to 17th arondissement), but it was definitely worth the effort because this turned out to be one of the best gourmet dinners we have ever had. The restaurant is located in a newly renowated designer-hotel and while you're eating you are overlooking the nice garden. The service was perfect and the 3-course meal was heavenly (it actually turned out to be a 7-course meal with all the in-betweens).
Never tasted better scallops (or seen a nicer way to present it), never tasted better and more tender veal - and to top it all the art they created from chocolate is just amazing. The price - 79 Euros per person for the meal - not bad considering the price included all the wines that the chef selected for each of the 7-courses.

If you ever get a chance - I recommend a vistit to this talented young chef Yannick Tessier (33). Find out more at the http://www.parishotelampere.com/








Yesterday we had breakfast in a nearby street cafè, spent a few hours at the Louvre and had a nice long lunch at Cafè Cappucine (near the Opera) - before we collected our luggage at the hotel and headed for the airport. Paris in the spring is nice - but it sure is nice in the fall too.

Energy crisis + Global Warming ?

Progress:
The ventilation team never showed up today, so we have nothing to report :-(

Events:
In its annual World Energy Outlook released this week the IEA says that unless there is an "energy revolution," the planet will heat up by about 6°C by 2030 — about three times the rate of global warming that is considered manageable by most scientists. That, says the normally sober IEA, "would lead almost certainly to massive climatic change and irreparable damage to the planet." The agency’s chief economist Faith Birol said pre-requisites for such a energy revolution are a strong climate agreement to curtail global emissions up to 2020, and a doubling of carbon prices from current EU levels.

Even after a series of statements like these, some people are still “global warming skeptics” who claim that: “this planet’s natural temperature fluctuations lead to higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere – not the other way around”. Should they be correct in their view on CO2 – there is still a need to act now....

The global recession has brought the first significant yearly drop in energy demand since 1981, giving the planet a rare breather from carbon emissions. But this is a "unique" moment, the report says, whose gains will be quickly obliterated without a significant move toward alternative energies. The impending energy crisis is "far greater than many people realize," it says. (Read "Russia and China: An Old Alliance Hinges on Energy.")

Energy demand will rebound sharply once the recession ends and rise about 40% by 2030. Fossil fuels — oil, coal and gas — will make up about three-quarters of the global increase in energy consumption. One example of the recession’s effect on CO2 emissions is Japan – see article “Japan greenhouse gas emissions fell 6.2% last year”

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1937160,00.html#ixzz0WXeEw4d4

Copenhagen delay to cost $500bn a year

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that holding up a new global climate agreement will add $500 billion for each year of delay to the total cost of measures needed to keep global warming to plus-2 degrees Celsius.
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1727

Finally there is progress to report

Progress:
We used to have steady cold breeze coming from the loft hatch in the winter, but yesterday the carpenter replaced it with a new and better isolated hatch (as illustrated in the picture below).

Today when we came home from work the carpenters had closed and filled in all the old air hatches in the house - so from this day on the house is at "low energy house" standard (requiring less than 100 KWh/m2 per year).

Now that the aircirculation is minimal, it was good news that the ventilation team finally reported some progress. They had finalized all the in- and output holes for the fresh and "used air" (see picture from the livingroom below)

They had also installed the last two pipes in the ventilation room (see the lower two pipes in the pictures below)

They had also started on the piping behind the indoor-part of the heatpump, in the room next to the ventilationroom (this is where the 4 pipes end up after passing through the wall). See the last two pictures.

Backlog:
The ventilation team still needs to finish the piping that will suck heated air from the area around the heatpump - and then redistribute it around the house (and the same for cool air in the summer). They also have to install an extra fan for a separate loop that distributes cooler air from the ground floor to the bedrooms on the first floor. Last box to be installed is the outside-part of the heatpump (and the wooden cover around it - to make it look better on the outside of the house). Then after some calibration work - the complete system should be ready for handover (and then normal operations).

Recents events:
Brazil urges world leaders to attend UN climate meet:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/11/09/09/brazil-urges-world-leaders-attend-un-climate-meet

Obama set to attend Copenhagen:
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1723
> The fact that Obama and other important leaders intent to participate is probably good news
> I also added the CarbonPositive website to the useful links section (on the right side of this blog) after having found quite a lot of useful background information, facts and a useful FAQ section.

How drastic do the CO2 reductions have to be?

Progress:

On Friday afternoon when we came home from work the only progress to report was that the old patio door had been replaced with a new patio door. Finally all the windows and doors included in the project have been replaced, and given that the extra isolation was added to the attic some weeks ago - the house should now be fairly well isolated.

Next week they will block all the current air hatches in the house (where the warm inside air has been flowing freely out from the house). When this last part of the "keep the heat inside" project has been completed - it will hopefully be time for switching on the ventilation system (or else there will not be enough circulation of air in our house, and we have to open windows regularly until the ventilation team is ready).

The ventilation team originally promised to have the project finished one week ago, so on Friday morning I asked them (by email) for a new target date - but so far I have not received a response. To me it looks like we are 2 weeks away from the finishing line (if they send their people here and not to other delayed projects).

Comments on global events:

Climate-Accord Deadline May Slip a Year as Nations ‘Play Games’ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aTFXPFqcsfbc

> I'm not happy to see this type of news - but I'm not very surprised...
> There will be more of these statements in the press to put pressure on the delegates meeting in Copenhagen on December 7th.


U.S. unemployment rate hits 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate since April, 1983. Job losses total 190,000.
> More depressing news.... There is, however, some effects of the financial crisis that can have positive impact on the CO2 reductions we all want. Reduced activity means less CO2 emissions from the industry and transportation sector (in Russia, this effect has been dramatic) - and more importantly this gives governments an extra incentive to initiate projects that will create jobs and at the same time reduce CO2 emissions (like JAHUS projects).


More on current CO2 emissons and targets for 2020:

In 1990 Norways total emissions of CO2 was ca 50 million tons (or ca 12 tons per capita). The CO2 emissions are expected to increase to 59 million tons of CO2 by 2020 (if nothing is done to reduce the growth in CO2 emissions).

The norwegian government recently stated that by 2020 we will have cut the CO2 emissions by 40% compared to the level in 1990 (50 million tons) - see more on the website below:

"Norway takes over the yellow climate jersey"
http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=2319

The reduction per capita should according to this target be 12 tons *40%= ca 5 tons CO2 per capita per year. If my estimates for our JAHUS project we will reduce emissions of CO2 by as much as 30 tons CO2 per year - or 6 tons per person living in the house (5).

How does norwegian numbers compare to for example USA?

In 1990 USAs total emissions of CO2 was ca 5000 million tons (or ca 20 million tons per capita). The CO2 emissions had increased to 6000 million tons of CO2 by 2004 (and stayed on that level since then)

I can recommend this website if you want more details on emissions of green house gases:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/

> Comment: I understand that there are discussions about which year to refer to when I see that there has been only a small increase in CO2 emissions since 1990 in Norway (and the rest of western Europe) - while in the USA the increase has been 20%.

>If all countries were to reduce the CO2 emissions by 30% compared to 1990 - americans would have to reduce CO2 emissions by 20%+30%=50% compared with todays level, while we here in Europe would be compliant at levels of slightly more than 30%.

• Scientists think that we need to cut global CO2 emissions with as much as 30% (from the 1990 level)
• Developing countries must be allowed some growth in CO2 emissions. Who shall "pay the price"?
• Even if there were no global warming and CO2 problem, there is also a growing concern that there just isn't enough energy available when the supply of fossile fuel runs out (next 50 years).

I will follow up next week with more comments about the "fight" over CO2 reductions - leading up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen in December (Europe-USA-BRIC, developed vs developing countries etc.).

More on CO2 emissions

Progress today:
The ventilation/heatpump team spent much of today drilling two more holes (ca 30 cm in diameter each) in the concrete wall into the ventilation room. The last two ventilation pipes will pass through much of the ventilation room and through these holes to other parts of the house. I don't know where they will go from there, but I observe that even more of the house gets occupied by the ventilation system.

More on CO2 emissions:
My understanding of the CO2 quotas is that each country gets a CO2 allowance under the Kyoto protocol, and that this "allowance" is split into CO2 quotas that can be traded globally. If a company generates 1000 tons of CO2 too much they pay 21.600 USD for CO2 quotas in the market (from a company/country that generates less CO2).

Compare the approximate 5 USD per ton CO2 performance of our JAHUS project with the 21.6 USD/ton companies have to pay for CO2 quotas. Looks like JAHUS projects are effective CO2 saving projects.

The price of these quotas are expected to rise to 60 USD by 2020 (medium probability - as shown in the graph - but in Euros).


Rather than these CO2 quotas, some countries have introduced green certificates (see additional comments below). The idea is that projects like our JAHUS project can get a green certificate that can be sold to finance (some of-) the project. The total value of the certificates correspond to the CO2 effect of the project - and there is a local marketplace for these certificates. (There is no such market in Norway at the moment - but it would be a good idea to grant green certificates to JAHUS projects. This would surely boost the number of JAHUS projects).

In Norway the government is now financially backing 8 separate initiatives called Centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research (FMEs) - with approximately 145 MUSD. With a total over 8 years of approximately 18 MUSD the goal of the Bioenergy Innovation Centre (CenBio) is to produce renewable energy at a rate of 10TWh/year. The efficiency of this FME would then be approximately 556USD/ton of CO2. My point is not that these FMEs are too expensive considering their CO2 effect - but it illustrates clearly that these projects should be followed by support for projects with a much higher CO2 effect per invested USD like JAHUS projects (introducing cheap loans, making the products tax-free, introducing green certificates etc.).

I have copied some backgroud info below - to help readers get easy access to some of the background information I refer to in my discussions.

Carbon market overview:
Climate change is mainly caused by an accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. At the Rio Conference in 1992, there was a broad international recognition of the need for a common effort in order to mitigate climate change. This resulted in the first international legally binding agreement aiming to curb greenhouse gas emissions – the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). According to the UNFCCC, industrialised countries, or Annex I countries, have the main responsibility to mitigate climate change.

In 1997, concrete targets for curbing GHG emissions were established in the Kyoto Protocol. Each Annex I country that has ratified the Kyoto Protocol is obliged to reach a domestic target for carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions, on average of 5.2 % below 1990 emission levels, by the first commitment period of 2008 to 2012. Annex 1 parties emitted around 64 % of total global GHGs in 1990. Non-Annex 1 countries (primarily developing countries) do not have binding targets under the Kyoto Protocol, but must ratify the Protocol in order to be hosting emission reduction projects under the flexible mechanisms (see below). As of 15 January 2008, 177 countries, plus the European Union, have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

A beginner’s guide to the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol: http://unfccc.int/

Challenges of the CO2 market include the fact that countries that used to be behind the "iron curtain" (Russia etc.) are in the midst of a serious financial downturn - and as a result they have much more CO2 quotas than what they need (pushing the price of CO2 quotas in the marketplace down).

A Green Certificate: terminology used in Europe - also known as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in the USA, are a tradable commodity proving that certain electricity is generated using renewable energy sources. Typically one certificate represents generation of 1 Megawatthour of electricity. What is defined as "renewable" varies from certificate trading scheme to trading scheme. Usually, at least the following sources are considered as renewable:

• Wind: often further divided into onshore and offshore
• Solar: often further divided into photovoltaic and thermal
• Wave: often further divided into onshore and offshore
• Tidal: often further divided into onshore and offshore
• Geothermal
• Hydro: often further divided into small - microhydro - and large
• Biomass: mainly biofuels, often further divided by actual fuel used.

Green certificates represent the environmental value of renewable energy generated. The certificates can be traded separately from the energy produced. Several countries use green certificates as a mean to make the support of green electricity generation closer to a market economy instead of more bureaucratic investment support and feed-in tariffs. Such national trading schemes are in use in e.g. Poland, Sweden, the UK, Italy, Belgium (Wallonia and Flanders), and some US states.

In contrast to CO2e-Reduction certificates, e.g. AAU's or CER's under the UNFCC, which can be exchanged worldwide, Green Certificates cannot be exchanged/traded between e.g. Belgium an Italy, let alone the USA and the EU member States.

CO2 calculations - part 2

Blog contents: You may have noticed that I have added some references to other websites and blogs on the righthand side of the blog. I hope you too will find them interesting.



Progress:
Today it went from bad to near-disaster in what used to be our Biliard-room (now our ventilations room). The picture shows the new piping in the ceiling - and believe it or not, they still haven't finished installing stuff in this room (one more fan and two more pipes).

There was also some good news when I came home from work today - the heatpump had been put where we wanted it. We had to pay 500 USD extra for the pump (incl. the installation job) that moves the condensated humidity from the heatpump to the drainage point.

Your own CO2 emissions:
A Audi A4 car sends out 0,197 kg CO2 into the atomspere for every kilometer you drive (http://www.vegvesen.no/). Total emissions during a trip from Oslo to Trondheim and back = 1000km *0,197kg/km= 197 kg CO2

To save 30 tons of CO2 per year (the yearly savings of our JAHUS project, see the blog-post yesterday) - you would have to cut the driving by: 152.000 km !

Most people don't drive that much during a year. A reduction of 5000 km or approx 25% of a normal family cars yearly distance (by using bicycle to work and walking to the grocery store) is more realistic => ca 1 ton CO2

A traditional american diet results in almost 1,5 tons more CO2 emissions a year than a vegetarian diet (with the same number of calories). Converting to a vegetarian diet saves an additional 1.5tons of CO2 per person. With a household of 5 people the savings = 7.5 tons CO2

Drop the 2 trips we (parents only) fly each year to the southern part of Europe. Each person saves 2,6tons of CO2 by not flying to Rome/Italy and back to Oslo - so the total savings is ca 4 * 2,6 = 10,4 tons of CO2

Yes, you can (and should) also do minor things such as limiting the use of warm water for showering, replacing old light bulbs with energy-saver/LED light bulbs, and changing to light bulbs that automatically get switched on when it gets dark and off in the morning.

Add the effects of all the above mentioned measures and we'll still be 10 tons short of matching the estimated savings of 30 tons CO2 associated with our JAHUS project (with no negative effect on lifestyle or comfort). What would you rather do?

For nerds or you and me?

Today we had lengthy discussions about where to put the indoor-part of the heatpump. The guys wanted to put it "right in your face" when entering the house through our frontdoor, but we want it to be placed somewere more discrete.

They told us there will some water coming out of the unit (condensated humidity from the air) so the unit has to be placed higher than the drainage point. This was new information for us - but found a solution where they put the heatpump where we want it and add a small pump that will make sure the water gets to the drainage point even from a lower point.

Except for the good news that much of the garabage in our garden now has been removed (have they read my blog?) - not much more to report from the project itself.

I also promised to share with you some numbers and calculations......

I have had a hard time putting all the CO2- and energy numbers I read about in the press into perspective. I believe that I'm finally begining to make sense of it all - and I hope that sharing my thoughts with you will be helpful.My objective is to help you compare the effects of different types of climate friendly efforts. Provided below is part 1 of this section - and some of the numbers will have to be added tomorrow (part 2).

Experts say a country like Norway has to spend 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) each year on efforts to limit/reduce green house gas (GHG) emissions. (Some even say 3%). For Norway spesifically this means approximately 10billion USD a year or 2.500 USD per person per year. To me this sounds like very high numbers - just think for a moment how much you could do in a house (with 5 people) for 12.500 USD/year.

When they see the amount of CO2 emissions saved in a JAHUS project, the governments should at least use some of the 12.500 USD per person to provide cheap loans for JAHUS-type projects (like in France) and make the JAHUS-type products taxfree. I'll get to that tomorrow when I compare the cost of different efforts for saving a ton of CO2 emissions.

I'll start by estimating the savings as a result of our JAHUS project. Last year we spent more on electricity than the average house of our size - but I'll use the standard number 200 KWh/square meter per year (for houses older than 10 years). After the JAHUS project we expect the house to meet the "low energy house" standard which means we're down to 100 KWh/sq meters per year - or a delta of 100KWh/sqm*300sq.meters= 30.000 KWh/year

How do we "translate" this to amounts of CO2 emissions? The norwegian authorities confirm that if we assume there is enough capacity to transfer excess clean electricity from Norway to the continent - then 1 KWh saved here means 1 KWH less of the most dirty electricity on the continent. 1 KWh produced on coal generates 1 kg of CO2. The savings in our house is expected to result in savings of 30 tons of CO2 per year !

If the total cost of the project should end up at a total of 60.000 USD and we expect it to last at least 10 years => 30tons * 10 years / 60.000 USD = 5 kg CO2/USD. This is the cost before we deduct the savings on the electricity bill. A fairly accurate estimate of the price for electricity on the European continent is 0,2USD per KWh and hence 30.000 KWh per year => 6000 USD per year. Multiply this with 10 years and you get .....yes, 60.000 USD (the price of the project).
Saving 30 tons of CO2 per year, getting better indoor climate and the electricity savings pay for "the party"? Sound like a "no-brainer" to me....

The CO2 effects and cost of other efforts we could do will be presented tomorrow.

• introduce 3 meat-free days a week
• bike to work and leave the car at home
• drop the yearly vacation trip to sunny Spain (by air)
• limit showers to 5 minutes
• drop temperature inside by 1C

How many of these efforts would you have to do to match the effect of a JAHUS project? Join me tomorrow :-)