Green

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NET ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT (NEB)

Today there is more attention than ever before focused on the impact human activities make on climate change. In countries that have been participating in the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (adopted in 1997, in force since 2005) awareness on energy use and air emissions has been a priority for nearly a decade. This awareness is now gaining a foothold in the United States, including a focus on low carbon usage and low green house gas (GHG) emissions related to site remediation activities. The call for low carbon usage and low GHG emitting techniques in contaminated site cleanup is now often referred to as “Sustainable Remediation” or “Green Remediation.” While various organizations around the globe are currently working to standardize these terms and to set protocol for meeting these approaches to cleanup one basic underlying principal is common among all of these concepts: they all require a focus on the calculation of the “net environmental benefit” of the remediation activity.

The use of Hydrogen Release Compound (HRC®) resulted in less than 6% of the energy use required by pumping and treating or air sparging and a net reduction in carbon dioxide emissions over these techniques of 2 million tons and 3.5 million tons, respectively, per acre treated.

Net Environmental Benefit (NEB)

When evaluating any technical approach to contaminated site cleanup for compliance with Green Remediation or Sustainable Remediation practices, an objective assessment must include a calculation and comparison of the Net Environmental Benefit (NEB) for each of the approaches under consideration. NEB calculations include the summation of the energy consumed and the GHGs emitted during the total life cycle of the project.

In February of 2001, Regenesis became one of the first companies in the world to be recognized by a government body for developing a remediation product which demonstrated a significant Net Environmental Benefit. As a result the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued its first Innovative Environmental Technology Certification to Regenesis for Hydrogen Release Compound (HRC)®.The NJDEP based its certification on the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technologies (NJCAT) verification and calculation of the Net Environmental Benefit of HRC when compared to other viable remediation technologies. The verification program demonstrated that the use of Hydrogen Release Compound (HRC®) resulted in less than 6% of the energy use required by pumping and treating or air sparging and a net reduction in carbon dioxide emissions over these techniques of 2 million tons and 3.5 million tons, respectively, per acre treated. For more detailed information on the Net Environmental Benefit calculation performed for HRC® visit New Jersey Corporation for Advance Technologies /New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Also Visit: http://www.njcat.org/success/success4.cfm