Category Archives: Uncategorized

From the NOAA Research News –

NOAA and NIST have installed a Doppler lidar instrument to an existing weather station on top of the Department of Commerce’s Herbert Clark Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. to measure wind flow and turbulence in the lowest part of the atmosphere for a research project studying greenhouse gas emissions in the Capitol area.

Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses the light from a pulsed laser reflected off distant objects to make measurements of the atmosphere, similar to how radar uses radio waves to gather information on thunderstorms. Scanning Doppler lidars can make high-resolution measurements of horizontal winds, and resolve turbulent processes in the atmosphere to generate data required by sophisticated atmospheric transport models.

“This collaboration between NOAA and NIST will increase our understanding of urban wind, weather, greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution, which will help us improve weather and climate models, and support our national security,” said Craig McLean, assistant administrator for NOAA Research.

For the rest of the story, see

Commerce Building Now Part of NOAA, NIST Weather and Greenhouse Gas Tracking Network

From the Indianapolis Star–

With the U.S. no longer is part of the Paris climate accords, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett believes it is time for cities to take the matter of reducing carbon emissions into their own hands.

At the state’s second annual Climate Leadership Summit, Hogsett announced this week that the city is committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 — keeping Indianapolis in line with the Paris agreement that President Donald Trump withdrew from earlier this year.

“The climate is changing,” Hogsett said at the summit, “its consequences, very real.

“If the tragedies of the last several weeks have taught us anything, it is this: How well cities are prepared will determine their success over the years and decades to come,” he added. “Indianapolis will be prepared.”

With this commitment, Indy joins the ranks of many other cities around the country and world — including Seattle, New York, Minneapolis, London, Berlin and Sydney — who are working to reduce or eliminate their carbon footprint. That footprint is a measure of how day-to-day activities that produce greenhouse gases — such as burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat and transportation — affect the environment and climate.

For the rest of the story, see

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2017/09/15/indy-mayor-vows-city-act-climate-change/663771001/

Indianapolis Power & Light announced plans Friday to convert an aging, coal-fired power plant on Harding Street to natural gas by 2016.  The subsequent reduction in emissions of CO2 for Indianapolis will be evaluated via several independent methods through the Indianapolis Flux Project.

Harding Street Power Plant in Indianapolis, IN.

http://www.wthr.com/story/26289521/2014/08/15/indianapolis-utility-to-convert-coal-plant-to-gas

Indianapolis’ Electric Car Program ‘Blue Indy’ Looks to Have 125-Vehicle Fleet by End of Year

http://www.hngn.com/articles/31804/20140520/35-million-electric-car-program-blue-indy-coming-to-indianapolis.htm

“French investment and industrial holding company Bollore Group will invest $35 million in creating its “Blue Indy” program in Indianapolis to promote electric cars and advanced batteries.

Vincent Bollore, founder of the company, said in a telephone interview that the program will start within eight months and that it will use 500 Bluecars and 1,000 charging stations, according to Automotive News.

“We thought it would be good to start with a medium-size” U.S. city, Bollore said. “We want to show the electric car is the best solution for the future.”

“Members” of Blue Indy will be able to swipe at one of 25 initial stations in the city and “borrow” a car to get to different destinations, WTHR reported.

“You only pay for the part that you use,” said Marc Lotter, spokesman for Mayor Greg Ballard. “As soon as you plug into your destination your rental stops and you don’t have to worry about filling it up with gas because it’s all electric. You don’t have to worry about returning it where you first picked it up.”

Indianapolis is looking to have 125 electric cars in its fleet by this year’s end, with students, businesses and downtown residents being the service’s biggest users.

“People who don’t want to own a second car or who can’t afford a car can use one of these, take it to the store, take it to an appointment,” Lotter said. “

• Emily Badger
• Oct 09, 2012

The above picture is a snapshot of the city of Indianapolis, as seen through its greenhouse gas emissions. All those glowing green patches of land – those are individual residences contributing to the city’s carbon footprint thanks to home heating, lighting and appliances. The tall red towers illustrate the emissions coming from commercial properties and industry. And those squat red bars cutting through the city – those are cars traveling Indianapolis’ beltway at rush hour, emitting carbon dioxide as they go.

This image comes from the Hestia Project, a software system just developed by researchers at Arizona State University that can estimate greenhouse gas emissions across a city’s landscape, right down to its individual buildings and roadways.

“We all love to point the finger at everyone else for greenhouse gases, but one thing that becomes imminently clear when you look at emissions in this detail is that blame is a ridiculous thing to do,” says Kevin Gurney, an associate professor in ASU’s School of Life Sciences and a senior scientist with the Global Institute of Sustainability. “We’re all part of the system. All of us engage in these activities. I drive a car, I have a home, I go to work. And you really see that.”

The software corrals publicly available data wholly unrelated to climate change. That includes property tax filings that reveal the size and age of buildings, how they’re used and what fuel heats them, DMV records on auto maintenance and inspections, and Metropolitan Planning Organization traffic count estimates. “None of that data has been collected technically for any environmental reason,” Gurney says.

And this is one of the strengths of Hestia. The United States and other nations have objected to international climate treaties that don’t include rigorous verification of emissions levels and reduction efforts. We can’t solve the problem, the argument goes, until we can accurately measure the scope of it and what governments say they’re doing to address it.

Well, Hestia has figured out how to estimate those measurements at the micro scale, using internally consistent data that could hardly be classified as suspect (think cities are manipulating their DMV records to paint a rosier picture of their carbon footprints?). “This is starting to eliminate that excuse,” Gurney says.

Hestia can also track patterns in emissions over time. In this hypnotic hourly animation, you can watch the people of Indianapolis head to work in those red buildings by day, then return home to residences that light up in green with tens of thousands of households turning up their thermostats and TVs by night. Traffic along the city’s main highways ebbs and flows in purple.

This seasonal animation, meanwhile, illustrates how dramatically different a city’s energy use appears in summer and winter.

The researchers have begun to test the software in Phoenix and Los Angeles as well, and Gurney imagines that it would be particularly useful to city managers trying to figure out how to target limited resources toward the emissions sources with the greatest potential for reductions.

“At the end of day,” Gurney says, “it doesn’t matter what policy is made out there at the national level, the international level, or state policy. At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to people doing things at the scales of roads and buildings and industries. That’s where the decisions on using energy occur.”

This is also why, Gurney believes, we need data at that same scale to guide those decisions. In more detail, you can watch the researchers here explain how they designed the software:

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2012/10/watch-city-aglow-greenhouse-gas-emissions/3528/

http://www.electricdrive.org/index.php?ht=d/ReleaseDetails/i/37224

For Immediate Release:

INDIANAPOLIS – June 10, 2013 –  Mayor Greg Ballard, Bolloré Group, and leaders from Indianapolis’ largest employers, universities, hospitality destinations and civic organizations today announced that Indianapolis has been selected as the site of the largest electric car share program in the United States.  Bolloré Group plans to invest approximately $35 million to launch an all-electric car share program in the city next year.  The system will feature 500 electric vehicles and 1,200 charging stations at 200 car-share locations.  The move marks the first time Bolloré will replicate the success of its Paris car share program outside of France.

“This program provides a great opportunity for downtown workers, residents and visitors to get around town in a car without owning one,” said Mayor Ballard.  “This service allows a person, government or company to only pay for a car when they need and want it.  They aren’t paying for fuel, insurance, maintenance and parking costs when the vehicle is not in use.”

The yet-to-be-named Indianapolis car share program is modeled after Bolloré’s popular Autolib’ service in Paris which features over 1,700 electric vehicles, 4,200 charging stations, and 37,000 members.  As in Paris, the Indianapolis service is aimed at providing new mobility options to the public.  It will also allow Indianapolis to become one of the most “electrified” cities in the US with a dense network of charging stations available to private EV owners.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of the Indianapolis service,” said Vincent Bolloré, Chairman of the Bolloré Group.  “The success of the Autolib’ in Paris – based on convenience, reliability and availability – has exceeded our expectations and realized our goal of transforming habits of car ownership, reducing pollution and relieving traffic congestions.  As a leader in the Smart Grid, we support Mayor Ballard’s commitment to Electric Vehicles and are excited to help speed the adoption of EVs in Indiana.  The dynamic environment fostered by Mayor Ballard’s administration along with the vibrant business and higher education community, and impressive downtown development projects are key factors in our selection of Indy for this first US launch.”

HOW IT WORKS: The program is based around short one-way rentals, unlike some other US models which require the user to return to the vehicle where they rented it.  Users pay a membership fee (daily, monthly, or annually) and receive an RFID card.  When they wish to rent a vehicle they reserve a car on-line or at a dedicated car share kiosk, they unlock the car charger with their card, and then swipe the card on the windshield, which unlocks the car and allows them to drive off.  The in-car GPS allows the user to reserve a parking spot with a charging station near their destination.  Once they arrive, plug-in the vehicle and the transaction is complete.  The user can then reserve another vehicle for their next trip, as needed.  The rates for the Indianapolis service have not yet been established, but in Paris, membership costs $16 per month and a 20-minute trip costs about $4.50.

“This announcement is extremely exciting for our city,” said President Maggie A. Lewis, Indianapolis City-County Council.  “This is a unique opportunity for our residents and visitors and will enhance our efforts in building a world-class city.”

Business/Governmental Car-Share: The car share program will be available to individual members and government/corporate users.  The City of Indianapolis and many other governmental and business organizations are looking into corporate memberships in order to reduce the size of their vehicle fleet.

“Indianapolis is becoming a major hub for clean transportation technologies, garnering national attention, due in large part to Mayor Ballard’s leadership in promoting electric and natural gas fuel in transportation,” said Paul Mitchell, President/CEO of Energy Systems Network.  “The fact that a company like Bolloré is choosing Indianapolis as the first US market for its innovative transportation solution shows the world is also now taking notice.”

Bolloré will begin hiring local management and marketing teams in the next few months.  The service is aimed to be a public service and Bollore will work closely with the city in the planning phase and continue discussions with key transportation, neighborhood, business and tourism groups to identify car share locations and other service aspects.  The city will assist Bolloré to identify the car share locations, reserve on-street parking where necessary, and enforce reserved parking restrictions with its partners at Park Indy.  The company expects to launch the car share service next spring.

– See more at: http://www.electricdrive.org/index.php?ht=d/ReleaseDetails/i/37224#sthash.fxVWKhFn.dpuf

Plans are being made for a  tracer release experiment, led by Thomas Watson (BNL).

The goals of the INFLUX tracer field release experiment are to:
1.  Quantify the absolute fluxes from individual point sources.
2.  Quantify the accuracy and precision of the atmospheric inversion system designed for INFLUX.

An intensive drive-around campaign led by Purdue University occurred in June 2013.