Between the Poles

An ROI Analysis Comparing AutoCAD and AutoCAD Map 3D

There is an worthwhile article in Cadalyst by Marcia Carillo which reports on a return on investment (ROI) analysis comparing AutoCAD, a pure CAD platform, to AutoCAD Map 3D, a data-management and interoperability platform.

To do this you need to understand the workflow for which the new software will be used. The costs that Marcia considers are

• Training cost
• Software cost (cross-grade)
• Labour costs
• Effort (hours per month)
• Time required for training
• Productivity loss during training

Some workflows that Marcia identifies that Map 3D can assist with are

• Working with coordinate systems
• Working with vector and raster data such as ESRI, digital orthophoto quarter-quadrangle (DOQQ), digital raster graphics (DRG), Web Map Service (WMS), and Web Feature Service (WFS)
• Drawing cleanup such as duplicates, undershoots, and overshoots
• Creating thematic maps
• Managing databases or linking to databases
• 3D rendering of survey data
• Multiple users accessing or editing one DWG file at the same time
• Publishing data and maps to the Internet or creating map books

To do an ROI analysis for a typcal workflow, Marcia looked at basic workflows including data input, data management, data analysis, and publication of deliverables. She then aggregates the results and concludes that it is fairly easy to save a  bit more than two person-years (3,800 hours) over a five-year period. Assuming an average labour average cost of $70 per hour, this means moving from AutoCAD to AutoCAD Map 3D can result in savings of $266,000 per seat over five years.

Open Infrastructure Maps

Last September I blogged about North Shore City, a municipality in New Zealand, that has made maps of its water, waste water and storm water network infrastructure publically available on the web.  Not only is the location of the underground infrastructure accessible, but users can query each facility to determine properties like type of pipe, diameter, and when it was installed.  

 

I have just heard from Saba Issa at North Shore City that their GIS viewer has just been redone and the new one allows users to download raster and vector data as well as view

• where road works are taking place
• (ocean) spray and wind zones
• property and road boundaries
• piped assets such as water pipes, manholes, hydrants, catchpits and valves
• information about piped assets

 

Texas House Bill 1677 Requires Government Maps with Property Boundaries to Include Disclaimer

The proposed bill will require governmental agencies in Texas, such as appraisal districts, that provide geospatial and mapping products to the public that include property boundaries to include a disclaimer if the proporty boundaries are not the "direct result of an on-the-ground survey conducted by a registered professional land surveyor."

The gist of the disclaimer as that the map is only for informational purposes and may not have been prepared for or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes and does not represent an on-the-ground survey and only represents the approximate relative location of property boundaries.

The Bill is schedule for a vote later in the year.  In other states such as Florida there is similar legislation.

MapGuide Open Source 2.1 Beta

Some encouraging feedback from Zac Spitzer about MapGuide Open Source 2.1 Beta

"I have been doing some heavy testing on this release over the weekend and it's easily the most stable MapGuide Release to date! "

Ottawa Gas Station First In World to Sell Cellulosic Ethanol Fuel

According to the CBC, a Merivale Road Shell station in Ottawa is selling fuel comprised of 90% gasoline and 10% cellulosic ethanol.  The ethanol is produced locally at Iogen Energy's demonstration plant in which Royal Dutch Shell and Iogen are partners.  The plant produces 40,000 litres of ethanol a month.  According to Shell the station will sell the blended gas for a month.  Iogen and Shell say the blended fuell will not raise the price of gas and will give the same mileage as regular gas.

Cellulosic ethanol is produced from lignocellulose, which unlike most ethanol produced in North America which comes from corn, is derived from non-food materials such as

• Switch grass
• Miscanthus (elephant grass)
• Oat/barley straw
• Sugarcane bagasse
• Hard wood chips

According to U.S. Department of Energy,  another of the benefits of cellulosic ethanol is that greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are reduced by 85% compared to gasoline. In comparison ethanol derived from corn may not reduce greenhouse emissions at all.  According to a University of Minnesota study, corn ethanol may be even worse for air quality than gasoline. The study concluded that the total environmental and health costs of making a gallon of gasoline was about 71 cents, compared with a range of 72 cents to $1.45 for corn-based ethanol, and 19 to 32 cents for cellulosic ethanol, depending upon the technology and type of plants used.

In Brazil about 25% of the fuel used by automobiles is ethanol derived from sugar cane.  Brazil is considered to have the world's first biofuels economy and many people believe sugar cane ethanol is the most successful alternative fuel.  The sugar cane-waste (bagasse) is used for heat and power, so that sugar cane ethanol is very competitive pricewise. Sugar cane ethanol also has a high energy balance compared with corn ethanol.  There are no longer any automobiles in Brazil running on pure gasoline.  Since 2007 the mandatory blend of gasoline and ethanol is 25% ethanol and 75% gasoline.  However, cane sugar can be used to produce food as well as cachaça of which 1.5 billion liters are consumed annually in Brazil.

World Bank Eco2 Cities To Support Sustainable Economic Growth

Last year the World Bank introduced the concept of Eco² cities which is designed to combine both ecological and economic development.  In the past economic development, especially rapid economic development, has been associated with rampant abuses of the environment.  So the question that the World Bank is trying to address is can we have sustainable rapid development.  Sometime in the middle of 2009 the number of urban dwellers will exceed rural dwellers and because of this and the importance of cities in economic development  the World Bank is focussing on cities. 

According to a recent blog post in ReNew Canada, the Eco² program launch is scheduled for July 1st in Marseilles. An Eco² Cities book will be coming out at the same time.  Eco² is aimed specifically at cities in developing countries.

The key principles of Eco² cities are

• Synergy and balance between environmental and economic objectives
• Integrated approach
• Long-term and life cycle perspective
• Path-dependency (spatial pattern matters)
• Learning from best practice (Stockholm, Vancouver, Curitiba, Portland, Brisbane etc)
• Lessons from developing countries
• Linked to finanical incentives

The Eco² cities approach involves policy and reform measures and strategic infrastructure investments.

Policy and Reform Measures

 Policy and reform measures include

A. Urban Planning

• Spatial Development Plans, Land Use Plans and Zoning
• Construction Standards and Building Codes
• Public Transport Policies

B. Integrated Utility Management

• Power (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency)
• Water (Water Conservation and Reuse)
• Wastewater (Biogas and Biosolids Recovery and Reuse)
• Solid Waste (Recycle/Waste-to-Energy/Composting)

C. Private Sector Engagement

• Industrial and Investment Policy, Regulation and Taxation
• Integrated Industrial Eco-Zones
• Innovative Policies and Programs for the Service Sector

Strategic Infrastructure Investments

Strategic infrastructure investments involve 

• Land development and servicing and spatial development 
• Multimodal Transport Network (synchronized with land use planning and regulations)
• Combined Heat & Power (with district heating)
• Energy Efficient Water and Wastewater Operations
• Water Savings
• Solid Waste Management (composting, recycling and energy use)
• Industrial Eco-Zones

FOSS4G 2009 Abstract Voting Open

You can now vote on the papers you'd like to see at FOSS4G 2009.  Over 170 abstracts have been submitted.  Voting will close on Sunday, June 28th.  To vote go here.  

Transmission Shortage Limiting Wind Energy in China

According to an article in the Globe and Mail, China is bringing on more wind power than the electric power grid can handle.  There are two challenges facing the power industry in China in exploiting wind power generation.  

First of all there is a lack of transmission capacity to bring wind power to the urban centres where most of the demand is.  The other problem is that local power utilities are not incented to connect renewable energy projects to the grid. The result is an underutilization of wind power capacity in China.  The gap between capacity and the ability to deliver power is estimated to be on the order of 2.8 gigawatts. (Photo courtesy of China Daily).

China Could Achieve 20% Renewable Energy by 2020

According to a report in the China Daily China could generate up to one fifth of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.  Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice-chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said in a London interview that published he is sure that China can exceed 15% of energy consumption by 2020, but that he personally believes China can achieve 20% renewables by 2020.  China's stated goal is for 15 percent of its energy consumption in 2020 to come from renewable sources, which apparently in China includes hydroelectric and nuclear power generation.  China has been very aggressive in developing wind and solar energy.

In Canada the government's objective is that 90 percent of Canada’s electricity generation will be provided by non-emitting sources such as hydro, nuclear, clean coal or wind power by 2020 and to reduce Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

A couple of weeks ago the Japanese Environment Minister, Tetsuo Saito, argued for a 15% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2020.  He stated that Japan should aim for a 25 % reduction in total, 15 percentage points by domestic efforts and the remaining 10 points by forest absorption and the purchase of emission credits from other countries.

Wind Energy in the EU

By the end of 2007, the EU had in excess of 56,000 MW of wind generation capacity, which represented 3.7 % of total EU electricity demand.   It is estimated that this wind power generation avoided 91 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

In 2007 the EU set a target of 20 per cent of its energy supply to come from renewable resources by 2020. Wind power is expected to deliver 12 to 14 per cent (180 GW) of the total demand.  While wind energy covered around 4 per cent of electricity demand in 2008, EWEA targets for 2020 and 2030 are for wind generation levels of 12–14 per cent and 21–28 per cent, respectively.

The EWEA has published a new verison of Wind Energy - the Facts which identifies some of the impacts of attaching a large proportion of wind energy to the existing European grid.

The report says that Europe is the global leader in wind energy technology. By the end of 2007, sixty per cent of the world’s capacity was installed in Europe and European companies had a global market share of 66 per cent. 

Wind energy is reponsible for 21 percent of power generation in Denmark. In Schleswig-Holstein, in the north of Germany right next to Denmark, wind energy accounts for 36 per cent of the region’s total electricity demand.  In Navarre, Spain, wind power provides 70 per cent of electric power. Navarre leads Europe in its use of renewable energy technology and is planning to reach 100% renewable electricity generation by 2010.

Grid Infrastructure Upgrade

Wind energy is a distributed and variable-output generation source and will require infrastructure investments.  

Two main factors determine wind energy integration costs: balancing needs and grid infrastructure. 

Balancing in a power system is due to the variable nature of wind power, requiring

changes for other generators to compensate unpredicted deviations between supply and demand.

Grid infrastructure upgrade is the result of the need to connect wind generation plants and from the extra capacity required to carry the increased power flows in the transmission and distribution networks.  The large-scale integration of wind power requires an increase in transmission capacity in particular the construction of new transmission lines. Networks also need to be adapted to improve voltage management, and additional interconnection capacity between countries is required to optimally capture the benefits of the continental nature of the wind resource.