Team:UNITN-Trento/Practices

Where's our energy going?

About 80% of the world population has access to electricity. This number will increase, as more area become developed and urbanized. Different countries have different energy needs due to their economy and development and therefore the consumption of energy varies significantly. For example, in Europe and in the US one of the main area of energy consumption is domestic (houses and office spaces), while in Asia the industry is the major area of energy use. However, in all the three continents domestic energy consumption range from 30% to 40% of the total energy use.

Distribution of Energy consumption in Asia, Europe, and USA Data are elaborated from ^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

The amount of energy used changes significantly from country to country. For example, in the US the typical house consumes 2 fold more energy than the typical house in Japan and 4 times more than an Italian house. However, if we look individually at the domestic consumption for each of these countries, it becomes evident that in all the three cases we can make a difference in the national energy consumption/waste if we try to reduce domestic household energy needs. Taking a closer look at the domestic consumption, it becomes evident that heating and cooling systems are where energy is mostly used domestically.

Use of electricity in different countriesElectricity (kWh/year) needs of the average electrified household in different countries. Data from ^[4].

Household electricity distribution in a typical home The data visualized in this figure are representative of a typical urban home (source). Energy needed for Heating and Cooling (space + water) represents 72% of the total consume. Data from ^[5].

The first step? Make a difference!

We can try to make a difference by reducing the waste of domestic energy. In an ideal world we should reach a situation where the heating and cooling energy gets close to zero, and the only energy needs of a house will become the one for lighting, computers and small appliances.

We can all make a difference by adopting responsible habits to reduce the waste of energy in our house. Every action can have an impact:

Substitute old household appliances with high efficiency ones
Decrease the dispersion of heat/cool, by substituting old windows, isolating roofs, and not leaving windows open excessively when operating these systems.
Replace old heating systems with low consume ones
Installing roof photovoltaic panels

Different approaches , different country needs

Different countries have different sensibilities to this problem and had adopted different strategies to reduce domestic energy waste. We tried to take a look at the different laws in Asia, Europe and the US. The information were not always easy accessible. Also, it was not easy to compare the data that we found. However we discovered that in different ways every country is trying to make a difference. The major difference that we observed is the mandatory or voluntary nature of the program/strategy being applied in different countries.

The European Community has developed energy standards for both new and old house appliances. It has been estimated that new buildings consume 3 to 5 liters of heating oil per square meter per year, while older buildings consume about 25 liters and sometime reach up to 60 liters. Currently, about 35% of the EU's buildings are over 50 years old ^[6].

The 2010 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive are the EU's main legislation on this topic ^[6]. Under this directive:

Each house must have an energy performance certificate based on the energy consumption. This is a one-letter label assigned to the house by a professional (i.e. energetic engineer, or architect) on the basis of the consumption of energy and waste of heating and cooling. Therefore, the type of heating systems, the windows, the isolation of the roof, as well as the territory where the house is located, they all play a role.
Performance Energy labels must be included in each rental or sale transaction.
All new buildings must be nearly zero-energy buildings by the end of 2020 (public buildings by the end of 2018).
Each country must set minimum energy requirements for new and remodeled buildings.

House energetic class standards in Trentino Alto AdigeDifferent parameters are needed to reach a specific class in different countries and regions according to the climate conditions.

To achieve this goal many European countries are financing renovations to help people meeting these goals. For example, in Italy 65% of the expenses for the energetic requalification of your house can be deducted from your taxes (for the fiscal years 2012-2015). France initiated the Grenelle Environnement building plan that consists of an "eco-loan interest-free" dedicated to improve energy and thermal efficiency of buildings. By 2020, this plan should allow investments of EUR 120 billion ^[7].

In the US the Department of Energy (DOE)^[8] has developed a Building Energy Code Program called International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). There are different editions of this code released in 2009, 2012, and 2015. These codes are applied differently to office residential and commercial buildings. For the most part the actions suggested in the codes apply to office buildings and newly built houses. Each state has the faculty to choose to adopt the code. In practice, when building a new house certain standards of energy consumption/waste must adopted by the constructor.

IECC codes in different states Adoption of IECC codes in the 50 American states at the residential level. Figure taken from 8

For example, the states of Ohio and Texas adopted the 2009 IECC (or equivalent), while California updated to the 2012 IECC. This code corresponds to the specific parameters that are to be used when new buildings are constructed (the IECC does not apply on the already existing houses).

Many American states are focusing on the impact that office buildings have, starting by updating all the heating/cooling systems and reducing the energy waste in Federal Buildings. The Obama admistration in 2011 set the goal of reducing energy of commercial buildings by 20% in 2020 ^[9].

The US does not have a uniformed rating system for buildings based on efficiency or energy consumption. However, there are attempts to create similar programs. For example, the Home Energy Rating System, the Energy Star Program, National Green Building Standard and other programs. All these programs are applied locally and on a voluntary basis [10]. Tax incentives, energy efficient mortgages are available in different states. However the lack of harmony between strategies is a major problem.

In Asia the scenario is more complicated. In many states, the main goal is to bring more electricity to homes, rather than reduce consumption. However, in more urbanized countries, there are attempts to develop a certification system. We had difficulties in drawing a picture of Asia, because of the diversity of strategy in different states. As an example, we looked a China, where the focus has been placed on new buildings, given the fact that there is a very high rate of construction. The Chinese government is promoting a voluntary program similar to Energy Star in the US for the label of house as well as appliances ^[9].

Household appliances: there's a lot out there

In Europe many everyday products such as washing machines, refrigerators and other appliances need to carry energy labels and have been designed to meet minimum energy efficiency standards, identified by a letter code. Some of the European countries are trying to promote the substitution of old appliances with new high efficiency ones. For example, in Italy since the tax year 2012 for every house been refurbished, you can deduct 50% of the cost of the appliances as long as they meet the A+ standard.

In Japan, there is a similar approach being developed, that is not yet mandatory (Energy Saving Labelling program for appliances and lighting) ^[11].

In the US the Environmental Protection Agency has developed a voluntary program named Energy Star to label kitchen appliances, computers, and materials used to build homes that save more energy than standard models ^[12]. This program is now being used also in Europe.

Energy labels of appliances in different countriesIllustration of some labels used in Europe, America and Asia.

Synthetic Biology: an alternative enrergy source?

Alternative Energy Sources

Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from resources which are naturally replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain, geothermal, biomass, water.

The top countries for investment in this field are China, Germany, Spain, the United States, Italy, and Brazil. In 2014 China invested more in renewable energy than the whole Europe.

The European Community has drawn a Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) that has as a major concern to stimulate the renewable energy growth, by imposing on member countries certain levels of alternative energy use ^[13]. For example, Italy has to reach the 17% of the total energy production by 2020.

The New Energy for America ^[14] plan calls for a federal investment of 150 billion to rise renewable energy supplies to 25% of the total amount of energy. Financial incentives are available in many states. For example the cost of a domestic photovoltaic panel system can be decreased by half with federal and tax credits.

Can Synthetic Biology and iGEM help?

Several laboratories across the world are trying to make an impact in the production of energy by using engineered bacteria. We decided to take a look at the contribution of iGEM in the Energy field.

In 2009, when tracks were introduced, energy was included in the track “Food and Energy” and in 2014, “Energy” was included as a separate track. Since 2006, when the competition was born, 65 groups competed in this track. We looked closely at these projects and discovered that biofuels is the preferred topic. Only 8% of the teams worked on MFC like us. Only two times a project of the Energy track reached the three finalist: Bielfied 2013 (Ecoelectricity)^[15] and TU Darmstadt 2014 (The Grätzel Cell)^[16] both in the overgraduate section.

iGEM energy projectsDistribution of topics of iGEM projects in the Energy track from 2006 to 2014

Do you know how much energy is needed to light up a house?

Different devices need different power Energy needed to power up small household devices compared with electricity produced by bacteria in a typical iGEM MFC which produces between 200-500 μW (data based on Bielfield 2013 and Trento 2015 results).

To understand the gap that there is between the energy needs of a house and the energy that a bacteria can make today we looked at the energy consumption of few household devices. We used as a representative example of a bacteria producing energy in the MFC built by Bielfield in 2013 versus our solarpMFC. In both cases the amount of energy produced is in the range of 200-500 μW.

Qualitative representation of household energy consumption Today’s energy usage is way too high and cannot be supplied by synthetic biology. In the future this consumption will be halved while synthetic biology research, that is constantly evolving, will be able to satisfy the future’s demand.

Obviously the gap between the energy needs and our current ability to use bacteria to produce energy needs to be decreased. We have a hope for a future where synthetic biology will develop higher energy producing systems, but all this can make a difference only if energy consumption will one day be significantly cut.

A day with Italian highschool students

On August 27^th, we were invited to talk to 100 highschool students from all over Italy that were spending one week at the University of Trento. The students were selected among the best students in Italy. We spent an afternoon with them to introduce them to synthetic biology. Daniele and Caterina from the 2012 and 2013 Trento iGEM teams came with us to tell them more about their iGEM experience. We took the opportunity not only to talk about our project, but also to tell them about our Human Practice. We presented our vision on energy consumption and we talked on how we can all make a difference. Lets hope that after our talk at least a few of them will not leave their phone charger plugged overnight!

Interview with an expert

We interviewed Michele Del Fabro, a civil engineer from Verona that works on the development of solutions for energy resources.

Talking about alternative energy, which are the most exploited in Italy?

The most used alternative sources of energy are solar panels and hydropower. In Italy, however, we are not well placed in the field of alternative sources, especially if we consider the technologies available. The social will is there, but unfortunately there is a lack of knowledge about opportunities of alternative sources such as the wind.

Can alternative energy solutions be reached by small consumers or only by large consumers?

Yes and no. The most sophisticated applications are expensive. There is a middle class of alternative sources. Fundings for alternative energy sources are available, but they are not advantageous. In Italy there are state taxes for producing electricity on your own (i.e. with solar panel). This discourages the consumer to produce energy independently. In other places, such as Denmark, they granted to private citizens big incentives if they produce energy with wind turbines.

From our analysis it seemed that Europe focuses on the redevelopment of buildings, while other countries aim only on new buildings, why? What is your opinion?

In Italy there is the myth of the “eternal home”: houses are never redone but they are rather refurbished. It is ok to preserve some ancient building that stand as a historical memory, but when a house is too old and inefficient there is no reason why it should be kept. In fact, the houses were quickly built after the World War Two, without caring about thermal aspects and leading to a high-energy consumer structure. In other countries money is invested for the realization of new houses, promoting the industrial potential. It may not look like it, but rebuild a house in many cases is cheaper than just keeping an old one for many years.

From our analysis we saw that the domestic energy consumption comes primarily from heating and cooling systems. In an ideal world we should reach a situation where the heating and cooling energy should decrease and gets close to zero. Do you think it is possible?

This is totally impossible! We must overturn the way we think, especially here in Italy. The only almost zero-energy houses that I can think of are the ones from the ancient Roman Empire.

What can be done to upgrade a house from an energy point of view?

You should definitely think about the construction of the house, especially the coating, taking into consideration walls, roof and windows. Citizens should be educated better on the subject. Another idea could be taxing luxury goods (i.e. cars, gasoline). People are often left unprotected, without any kind of help from the government. What anyone of us can do so far is follow some basic tips to save energy and money (i.e. turn off the TV when you are not home, etc.)

Can a solar panel truly reduce prices?

Absolutely not, this sector is heavily penalized.The photovoltaic has very low yields, requires high maintenance and the electrical system has to be extremely efficient. The efficiency of the produced current is very low, at about 5-6%. The energy cost is insane and the problem of disposing the panel when they are exhausted is remarkable.

Leaving out technical difficulties, which hostility can you see about placing on market our project?

You need to impress and amaze people when looking at you product. Esthetic and design play a fundamental role: people want to see the beauty in everything. It has to be clear and easy to understand. How could you like something if you don’t know what it does? Last but not least is has to be sustainable, economically and ethically.