Tidal Power Exposed

Tidal Power http://MrEnergyCzar.com Hi Everybody, MrEnergyCzar here. This video is about explaining what Tidal Power or Tidal Energy is. • Facebook: http://w...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIDq5J6OSvU&feature=youtube_gdat

Credit: mrenergyczar

Fukushima disaster: New information about worst-case scenarios.

Newly released documents and memos inside the US response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster show that "we" reckoned the disaster wasn't going to be worst case. However it could have been a lot worse than it has turned out to be, had winds blown a different way, or had the meltdown gone further than it has.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/09/fukus

World's largest solar thermal plant is operational

Years from now, when the Solyndra debacle has long faded from memory, the most visible legacy of the controversial U.S. DOE loan program could very well be a field of nearly 200,000 mirrors in the desert.Today, Brightsource Energy announced that its huge, DOE-funded solar thermal power plant at Ivanpah, California, delivered power to the grid for the first time. It was part of a test to demonstrate the system, which uses mirrors to focus sunlight ...

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/24/worlds_largest_solar_thermal_plant_is_

Green Energy News 9/24/13 Audi EV, Toxic Chinese Rice, Wind at Parity with Coal

Green Energy News http://MrEnergyCzar.com This is Green Energy News, I'm your host MrEnergyCzar. We're covering electric cars, renewable energy, the environm...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeEF5aj4Kig&feature=youtube_gdat

Credit: mrenergyczar

Huge solar thermal farm near Vegas delivers first energy to the grid

The massive solar thermal farm Ivanpah in the desert about 45 minutes south of Las Vegas has produced and delivered its first energy to the power grid this week. The milestone is a major one that indicates the farm is almost ready to be fully turned on.Ivanpah is a new kind of next-gen solar farm that uses mirrors to concentrate the sun rays onto large towers that heat liquids and run steam turbines to create electricity. The more traditional so ...

http://gigaom.com/2013/09/24/huge-solar-thermal-farm-near-vegas-delive

Green Energy News 9/17/13 Tar Sands in Utah, Electric VW, China to Surpass U.S.

Green Energy News http://MrEnergyCzar.com This is Green Energy News, I'm your host MrEnergyCzar. We're covering electric cars, renewable energy, the environm...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHfFvbWaO4Y&feature=youtube_gdat

Credit: mrenergyczar

Japan to be nuclear-free as last reactor switched off

Japan on Sunday began switching off its last operating nuclear reactor for an inspection, with no date scheduled for a restart amid strong public hostility towards atomic power ...

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-japan-nuclear-free-reactor.htm

Soitec Launches New Solar-energy Module Featuring 31.8% Efficiency - The Highest of Any Commercial Module Being Mass Produced Today

Company's newest CPV module is certified to both IEC and UL standards

GRENOBLE, France, September 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Soitec (Euronext), a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, today announced its newest concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) module featuring a record power-generating efficiency of 31.8 percent. Soitec's new module, which is already in industrial volume production, has the highest efficiency of any commercial product available for multi-megawatt installations.

Using an optimized anti-reflective coating, Soitec's CX-M500 module increases nominal peak power output over previous generations from 2,335 Wp to 2,450 Wp. The new module has been certified according to the International Electrotechnical Commission's (IEC) and Underwriters Laboratories' (UL) standards (IEC 62108, IEC 62688, UL 62108 and UL SU 8703), confirming that it meets product safety, performance and reliability requirements in both the US and European markets.


"With this new product, Soitec is continuing to raise the bar for solar-power efficiency and, looking ahead, the potential for further improvement is significant," said Gaetan Borgers, executive vice president of Soitec's Solar Energy Division. "Based on our current work in solar-cell development, we are well positioned to achieve even higher module efficiencies in the near future. With our newest commercial modules and their higher efficiencies, we are delivering on our cost-competitiveness roadmap."


Additionally Soitec's new module complies with the California Solar Initiative, so power-plant installations using it can qualify for performance-based incentives from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The module also bears the CE mark, indicating its compliance with the relevant European Union directives, regulations and standards.


Using Soitec's proven Concentrix(TM) technology, each Soitec CPV module comprises a Fresnel lens plate and a bottom plate on which high-performance solar cells are mounted.  The Fresnel lenses focus sunlight concentrated by a factor of 500 on the solar cells beneath. The cells are precisely mounted on the bottom plate, enabling the focused sunbeam to align perfectly with the tiny solar cells. In constructing its modules, Soitec uses elements from the circuit board and dual pane window industries, which are both cost effective and have been proven reliable over many years.


The modules are used in assembling Soitec CPV systems. Soitec's tracker-based systems are designed to build high-capacity solar-power plants with low construction and maintenance costs. Soitec's CPV systems can significantly improve the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCoE) for mid-sized to very large solar-power plants.


With installations in 18 countries around the world, Soitec's CPV technology has proven its competitiveness to generate solar power, largely due to its higher production yields throughout the sunlight hours. In addition, CPV technology's abilities to operate without cooling water, withstand hot ambient temperatures and have minimal environmental impact make it perfectly suited for use in environmentally sensitive desert areas. Soitec is well positioned to expand quickly in the world's sunniest regions, which also are the fastest growing market segments for the solar industry.


Soitec recently announced the signature of a performance-warranty insurance contract with Munich Re, which will ease financing of solar projects using the company's CPV modules.


About Soitec: Soitec is an international manufacturing company, a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials at the frontier of the most exciting energy and electronic challenges. Soitec's products include substrates for microelectronics (most notably SOI: Silicon-on-Insulator) and concentrator photovoltaic systems (CPV). The company's core technologies are Smart Cut(TM), Smart Stacking(TM) and Concentrix(TM), as well as expertise in epitaxy. Applications include consumer and mobile electronics, microelectronics-driven IT, telecommunications, automotive electronics, lighting products and large-scale solar power plants. Soitec has manufacturing plants and R&D centers in France, Singapore, Germany and the United States.

For more information, visit: http://www.soitec.com.

Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Infrastructure | The Energy Collective

http://theenergycollective.com/ansorg/268086/why-don-t-we-mothball-shu

Blue-green algae a five-tool player in converting waste to fuel

In the baseball world, a superstar can do five things exceptionally well: hit, hit for power, run, throw and field. In the parallel universe of the microbiological world, there is a current superstar species of blue-green algae that, through its powers of photosynthesis and carbon dioxide fixation, or uptake, can produce (count 'em) ethanol, hydrogen, butanol, isobutanol and potentially biodiesel. Now that's some five-tool player.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-blue-green-algae-five-tool-player-fuel.ht

Japan's radioactive water leaks: How dangerous?

New revelations of contaminated water leaking from storage tanks at the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant have raised alarm, coming just weeks after Japanese officials acknowledged that radioactive water has been seeping into the Pacific from the plant for more than two years, The government announced this week that it would contribute 47 billion yen ($470 million) to build an underground "ice wall" around the reactor and turbine buildings and develop an advanced water treatment system. A look at the problem, and the potential risks to fish and the humans who eat them.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-japan-radioactive-leaks-dangerous.html#nw

No Free Pass For Fracking In California | David Pettit's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dpettit/no_free_pass_for_fracking_in

International Opposition to Fracking : Compass

The US has geography that makes it excellent for natural gas, and the Federal Government has been willing for it to be tapped as quickly as possible. The German beer industry is worried that Fracking could damage the country's water supply and render the German Beer industry worthless because the purity laws would disqualify German Beer's. Germany is home to more than 1,300 breweries producing about 5,000 varieties of beer, enough for someone to try a new beer every day for 13 and a half years!

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/compass/2013/09/transnational-opposition

Green Energy News 9/3/13 Fracking Ban, Tesla Safety Test, China Baby Boom....

Green Energy News http://MrEnergyCzar.com This is Green Energy News, I'm your host MrEnergyCzar. We're covering electric cars, renewable energy, Peak Oil and...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAzKXAmvNH0&feature=youtube_gdat

Credit: mrenergyczar

Fukushima leaks: Japan pledges $470m for 'ice wall'

Japan is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into building a frozen wall around the Fukushima nuclear plant to stop leaks of radioactive water. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said an estimated 47bn yen ($473m, £304m) would be allocated.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-2394021

Green Car Congress: DEMA consortium targeting direct production ethanol from algae at less than $2/gallon

The EU-funded project DEMA (Direct Ethanol from MicroAlgae) is working to produce bioethanol directly from cyanobacteriaa microalgae found in almost every terrestrial and aquatic habitat, including in oceans, lakes and damp soil, and on rocksfor less than €0.40/liter (US$2.00/gallon).

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/09/20130903-dema.htm

California and Subsidies for Renewables | The Energy Collective

California has spent two times more on subsidies for solar than nuclear, measured on a per-kilowatt basis, according to a new Breakthrough analysis. The finding challenges a new analysis from DBL investors, which compares nuclear to solar subsidies without accounting for the fact that nuclear generates far more electricity than solar. Comparing subsidies on a dollar-per-kWh basis is more appropriate because it gives a sense of relative effectiveness of subsidies at providing services to society, in this case electricity provision.

http://theenergycollective.com/maxluke/266731/subsidies-solar-two-time

How everything went so wrong at Fukushima - Salon.com

The steps of the disaster at the nuclear power plant

http://www.salon.com/2013/08/23/how_everything_went_so_wrong_at_fukush

Japan to fund ice wall to stop reactor leaks

Japanese government taking over the recovery operations at Fukushima ... building an underground ice wall to contain ground water from escaping.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/japan-fund-ice-wall-stop-reactor-leak

The icewall cometh: Japan's new plan to fix Fukushima - Salon.com

Japanese government now says they'll step in and take charge of efforts to contain radioactive water leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear site.

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/03/the_icewall_cometh_japans_new_plan_to_