Charles McConnell, who has spearheaded DOE's efforts in the development of CCUS technologies for nearly two years, has announced he will resign as Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy.
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2013/13006-Assistant_Secre
As America has stood on the sidelines, other countries such as Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, and even China have leapt ahead of us in developing offshore wind. Here a speed boat passes by Danish offshore windmills in the North Sea. SOURCE: AP.
By Michael Conathan
Since 1896, when Californians sunk the first oil well into the seabed from a wharf jutting 300 feet into the Pacific Ocean, the American offshore energy industry has been all about fossil fuels.
But our potential is so much greater. "Drill now, drill everywhere" is a closed-minded strategy of the past. And with every day that goes by as we continue to focus on fossil fuels for energy, we fall further behind the rest of the world in the quest to diversify our offshore energy portfolio.
By continuing to prioritize yesterday's technologies, we are locking ourselves into an energy future that dooms our climate, harms our environment, and sacrifices human health. The costs of coal, oil, and natural gas have all been kept artificially cheap by government subsidies and by our failure to make polluters pay for the negative effects of their emissions. Artificially lowering the price of these commodities slants the playing field, making it harder for new clean energy sources to compete in the marketplace.
As America has stood on the sidelines, other countries such as Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, and even China have leapt ahead of us in developing one particularly strong-and commercially viable-renewable resource, which the United States also happens to have in abundance: offshore wind. As of June 2012 the rest of the world boasted 4,619 megawatts of total installed offshore wind energy capacity. Meanwhile, we have not even begun construction of our first offshore turbine. Lack of a clear regulatory structure, inconsistent messages from other ocean stakeholders, congressional budget battles, opposition to specific project siting, and instability in financial markets have all played a role in preventing domestic offshore wind from becoming a reality.
Much of this has changed under President Barack Obama's leadership. In February 2011 the Departments of Energy and the Interior announced the intention to develop 54 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030, and the United States is closing the gap between our domestic offshore wind industry and those of the rest of the world. In 2012 alone the administration and Congress made major strides toward encouraging renewable energy development on the outer continental shelf:
The U.S. offshore wind industry is beginning to emerge from the political doldrums that clouded its early days, and it is finding champions in Congress, as well as in the Obama administration.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) led legislation to ensure that offshore wind is covered by key tax provisions that had previously only applied to onshore wind. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) championed funding for offshore wind development, including a deepwater pilot project in her home state of Maine.
Governors such as Martin O'Malley (D-MD) and Deval Patrick (D-MA) have prioritized offshore wind development as well. They view it as a political victory on multiple fronts-creating sorely needed jobs in construction, operation, and maintenance, and contributing to a diverse energy portfolio while moving us closer to renewable energy targets and away from polluting fossil fuels.
As political opposition falls away from offshore wind projects, opponents are turning more toward economic arguments against further development of this technology, suggesting it will increase electricity rates and ultimately cost jobs.
As with any new product or technology, the first U.S. offshore wind farm will undoubtedly face steeper costs of construction and development than its successors. But as the industry grows, experience, technological developments, and economies of scale will cause those costs to decline. Multiple studies of the offshore wind industry in Europe have shown that the "learning rate"-the rate at which the overall cost of offshore wind energy development declines over time-can be as high as 10 percent per year.
The question is not, therefore, whether the cost of offshore wind energy will come down, but rather how quickly. Cost-reduction rates will depend heavily on the amount of upfront investment the industry receives, including investment from the federal government. Thebillions of dollars in subsidies spent on mature industries such as oil and gas would go further in growing the nascent renewable energy technologies, which can in turn keep us competitive in the global market and create high-quality green jobs that reduce our dependence on foreign oil and help forge a new energy future.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, to truly level the playing field for offshore wind or any renewable energy technology, we must incorporate the cost externalities currently being ignored for oil, gas, and coal-fired power generation-most prominently the societal cost of pollution it generates, including the greenhouse gas emissions.
Those who suggest Americans can't afford to spend more for energy in the middle of an economic recovery are ignoring the fact that we are already spending more for our energy than the amount we see on our monthly utility bills or at the gas pump. We're paying through Congress when we subsidize Big Oil. We're paying at grocery stores when food prices increase as a result of an epic Midwestern drought. And we're paying at hospitals as more of our children suffer from asthma and other maladies caused by unclean air.
One of the catchphrases tossed around cavalierly in Washington by both parties is the need for an "all of the above" energy strategy. Conservatives say the president is failing to achieve this when he makes any decision not endorsed by the American Petroleum Institute. But the reality is no true "all of the above" strategy can be complete if it leaves out a commercially viable, renewable, and domestic resource that has the potential to make major contributions to our country's energy needs and our economy without perpetuating the negative and uncounted effects of our fossil-fuel dependence.
While no single energy source can turn back the tide of climate change that is already raising sea levels, acidifying our oceans, and contributing to extreme weather events, as President Obama said in his second Inaugural Address, a failure to respond to climate change "would betray our children and future generations." Affordable domestic offshore wind can and must be a part of the response.
- Michael Conathan is the Director of Ocean Policy at the Center for American Progress. Reprinted from the Center for American Progress website.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/01/31/1521031/filling-the-sails-
TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) and Element Power Solar today announced that First Solar has acquired the 50-megawattAC (MW) Macho Springs Solar project that Element Power Solar has developed in Luna County, N.M. When complete, it will be the state's largest solar power project. The photovoltaic (PV) solar project is expected to be completed in 2014, providing up to 400 construction jobs, and producing enough clean ...
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130131005290/en/Solar-Acquires
MURRIETA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Murrieta Valley Unified School District is reaping the benefits of solar power systems totaling more than 2.3 megawatts at all 19 district schools and the district support center. Designed and installed by SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY), a national leader in clean energy services, the new installations comprise more than 10,000 solar panels mounted atop parking-lot carports, and are expected to save the district a ...
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130131005556/en/SolarCity-Murr
NEW YORK & WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The US is consuming energy considerably more efficiently and with lower emissions than just five years ago thanks to a slew of modern technologies that are changing decades-old patterns, research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance and industry group the Business Council for Sustainable Energy find in a new report. The Sustainable Energy in America 2013 Factbook portrays a dynamic and rapidly changing US ...
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130131006003/en/Efficiency-Nat
SCHENECTADY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE announced the 2.5-120, the world's most efficient high-output and the first brilliant wind turbine. ...
image/jpeg http://www.pheedo.com/e/3e3356c2a007419feffb51523e9313a5/ViewMedia?mgid=312724&vid=21
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130131006018/en/GE-Introduces-
The education market has always represented a natural fit for Raspberry Pi devices, and this week news arrives that Google is giving 15,000 Pi devices to U.K. schools. That's just some of the Pi news arriving in the last few days.
The news about Google's gift to schools was even picked up on the TreeHugger blog, which noted:
"Though some question the gift from Google, noting that the influence of big corporations should be kept out of the classroom, others note how important it is to get kids interested in computer science so that gains in the sector do not falter with the next generation."
Actually, Google's Eric Schmidt began talking about pledging Pi devices to U.K. schools all the way back in May of last year, as we reported here. "Rebooting computer science education is not straightforward," Schmidt said at the time at an event in London, according to the BBC. "Scrapping the existing curriculum was a good first step - the equivalent of pulling the plug out of the wall. The question is now how to power up."
The New York Times also ran an exhaustive retrospective on the rapid rise of the Raspberry Pi this week. "The Raspberry Pi Foundation began selling the computers in February of last year," the Times noted. "They soon could not keep them in stock."
Who would have thought that a credit card-sized device running Linux and available for nearly no money would have such a profound impact? The Raspberry Pi story is actually only beginning.
Related Activities | Related Blog Posts |
http://ostatic.com/blog/raspberry-pis-momentum-picks-up-and-google-pit
Former climate change alarmist Dr James Lovelock, famous for popularising the "Gaia" metaphor, continues his journey back to rationality....
As of the end of 2011, China was burning nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined. [WaPo]
China's coal use grew 9 percent in 2011, rising to 3.8 billion tons. At this point, the country is burning nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined.
Coal, of course, is the world's premier fossil fuel, a low-cost source of electricity that kicks a lot of carbon-dioxide up into the atmosphere. And China's growing appetite is a big reason why global greenhouse-gas emissions have soared in recent years, even as the United States and Europe have managed to curtail their coal use and cut their carbon pollution.
Millions of people worldwide are fleeing their homes because of environmental disasters. But the conditions in which the refugees have to take up residence in neighboring countries isn't regulated by international law. [DW]
A new study by the National Wildlife Federation has concluded that climate change in the United States is happening much faster than many of its animal species are able to respond and adapt. [USA Today]
With its carbon cap-and-trade system now up and running, California - the most populous state in the U.S. and the ninth biggest economy in the world - is ahead of the rest of the country in taking action on climate change. [Time]
While air travel only accounts for an estimated 5 percent of global carbon emissions, that share is expected to grow as air travel becomes cheaper and more accessible. [The Economist]
According to a study by researchers at the Zoological Society of London and others, a mangrove forest shared by India and Bangladesh that's home to possibly 500 Bengal tigers is being rapidly destroyed by erosion, rising sea levels and storm surges. [The Guardian]
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/01/30/1513841/january-30-news-ch
IITA Image Library/Flickr
In a recent Nation piece, the wonderful Elizabeth Royte teased out the direct links between hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and the food supply. In short, extracting natural gas from rock formations by bombarding them with chemical-spiked fluid leaves behind fouled water-and that fouled water can make it into the crops and animals we eat.
But there's another, emerging food-fracking connection that few are aware of. US agriculture is highly reliant on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, and nitrogen fertilizer is synthesized in a process fueled by natural gas. As more and more of the US natural gas supply comes from fracking, more and more of the nitrogen fertilizer farmers use will come from fracked natural gas. If Big Ag becomes hooked on cheap fracked gas to meet its fertilizer needs, then the fossil fuel industry will have gained a powerful ally in its effort to steamroll regulation and fight back opposition to fracking projects.
http://climatedesk.org/2013/01/the-surprising-connection-between-food-
1) Concentrated Solar Power 2) Saltwater greenhouses 3) Outside vegetation and evaporative hedges 4) Photovoltaic Solar Power 5) Salt production 6) Halophytes 7) Algae production
The first pilot plant in a program of installations that can sustainably produce crops, electricity, biofuels, and even plants for re-vegetation efforts in a desert environment is now up and running in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar.
The Sahara Forest Project, which brings outfits from both Qatar and Norway together, uses desert air, sunlight, and saltwater as inputs for a system that aims to be environmentally sustainable, beneficial for local human development, and financially viable over the long term. As the project's CEO, Joakim Hauge, puts it: "The Sahara Forest Project is all about taking what we have enough of, like saltwater, CO2, sunlight, and deserts, to produce what we need more of: sustainably produced food, water, and energy." The hope is that the pilot project can be scaled up to installations in drier and desert climates around the world.
Essentially, the plant takes multiple sustainable technologies and integrates their inputs and outputs into a single multistage system, thus minimizing both waste and ecological footprint:
The basic advantage of the Sahara Forest Project is that it doesn't use any fundamentally new or experimental technology - it merely recombines established technologies in creative ways.
At the same time, at least one of its goals - growing plants for reforestation - may be overly ambitious. "Trying to grow trees in the Sahara desert is not the most appropriate approach," Patrick Gonzalez, a forest ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley, told National Geographic back in 2010. "I can imagine that this scheme and type of technology in limited cases might work in certain areas like Dubai, where they're used to making palm-shaped islands and 160-story-tall buildings."
But for the more modest goal of returning a desert to its natural former ecosystem, "it would be more effective, but less flashy, to work with local people on community-based natural-resource management."
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/01/30/1515871/sahara-forest-proj
| BP's recently released "BP Energy Outlook 2030" report claims that a dramatic rise in new unconventional sources of oil -- tight oil, tar sands and NGLs -- will solve the "peak oil" problem. These new sources of "oil" are primed to gush forth and allow ... See all stories on this topic » |  The Vancouver Observer (blog) |
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/climatesnapshot/peak-oil-solved
SUNRISE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IKEA, the world's leading home furnishings retailer, today officially plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its South Florida store in the City of Sunrise . ...
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http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130130005172/en/IKEA-Plugs-in-
Researchers from the University of Strathclyde and the University of St. Andrews have demonstrated that ammonia can be synthesized directly from air (instead of N2) and H2O (instead of H2) under a mild condition (room temperature, one atmosphere) with supplied electricity which can be obtained from renewable resources such as solar, wind or marine. In addition to providing a less carbon-intensive pathway for ammonia, their process could also reduce the pressure on renewable energy storage, they note.
Their paper appears in Scientific Reports, the open access journal from the Nature Publishing Group.
Globally 131 million tons of ammonia were produced in 2010. The dominant ammonia production process is the Haber-Bosch process invented in 1904 which requires high temperature (~500°C) and high pressure (150-300 bar), in addition to efficient catalysts. Natural gas or coal is used as the energy source of the ammonia industry. 1.87 tons of CO2 is released per ton of ammonia produced. Globally 245 million tons of CO2 were released by the ammonia industry in 2010 equivalent to about 50% of the UK CO2 emissions (495.8 million tons) in that year. In the Haber-Bosch process, the presence of ppm level oxygen may poison the commonly used Fe-based catalysts. In industry, extensive purification of N2 and H2 is needed and this remarkably increases the overall cost of the process. Therefore researchers have been seeking a simpler way for synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen separated from air.
...It is well known that some higher plants can synthesize ammonia or its derivatives directly from air and water at room temperature. The ammonia produced by plants is normally directly used as fertilizer by the plants. To the best of our knowledge, there is no report on artificial synthesis of ammonia direct from air and water. It has been a dream for researchers who can imitate this natural process to synthesize ammonia under similar conditions.
...In most reports, H2 and N2 were commonly used as precursors for electrochemical synthesis of ammonia while H2 production and N2 separation are essential. H2 production can be bypassed if H2O was used as a precursor; however, the reaction between H2O and N2 to form ammonia is thermodynamically non-spontaneous under normally pressure; however, this can be achieved through electrochemical process because the applied voltage provides extra driving force.
-Lan et al.
In their study, they first fabricated an electrochemical cell for ammonia synthesis. H2 (or water) and N2 (or air) were passed through room temperature water first then filled into the chambers of the cell. The DC potential was applied by a Solartron 1470A electrochemical interface controlled by software for automatic data collection.
A maximum ammonia production rate of 1.14 √ó 10‚àí5 mol m‚àí2 s‚àí1 was achieved when a voltage of 1.6 V was applied. Potentially, this can provide an alternative route for the mass production of the basic chemical ammonia under mild conditions, they concluded.
Resources
Rong Lan, John T. S. Irvine & Shanwen Tao (2013) Synthesis of ammonia directly from air and water at ambient temperature and pressure. Scientific Reports 3, Article number: 1145 doi: 10.1038/srep01145
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/01/ammonia-20130130.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rglH_6P02M&feature=youtube_gdat
Credit: mrenergyczar
"The refineries at the end of the Keystone XL pipeline are some of the biggest petcoke factories in the world today. By supplying them with tar sands bitumen, the petcoke embedded in the tar sands would find its way to the world market...petcoke from the tar sands is making coal fired generation dirtier and cheaper and this puts another nail in the coffin of any rational argument for further exploitation of the tar sands."Oil industry supporters claim that if the Keystone XL pipeline is not built, tar sands oil will find its way to other markets through future North American pipelines built to the east or west coasts. But many researchers say those projects are mere pipedreams, since the tar sands industry faces major opposition from local communities on the east and west coasts, where residents are worried about tar sands oil spills and other environmental impacts. The Pembina Institute's Nathan Lemphers worked on a new comprehensive report that lays out the facts surrounding tar sands expansion and the Keystone XL pipeline, which he says is a crucial lynchpin in the development of the tar sands:
The Keystone XL pipeline is critical for further expansion of the oil sands. Major financial institutions in Canada have said that the lack of pipeline capacity is a rate limiting step for the oil sands...if it's (Keystone XL) not build, it'll start to moderate the growth of the oil sands and it will send a clear signal to the financial community and the oil sands community that they need to address the carbon emissions that come from the oil sands.
"The refineries at the end of the Keystone XL pipeline are some of the biggest petcoke factories in the world today. By supplying them with tar sands bitumen, the petcoke embedded in the tar sands would find its way to the world market...petcoke from the tar sands is making coal fired generation dirtier and cheaper and this puts another nail in the coffin of any rational argument for further exploitation of the tar sands."Oil industry supporters claim that if the Keystone XL pipeline is not built, tar sands oil will find its way to other markets through future North American pipelines built to the east or west coasts. But many researchers say those projects are mere pipedreams, since the tar sands industry faces major opposition from local communities on the east and west coasts, where residents are worried about tar sands oil spills and other environmental impacts. The Pembina Institute's Nathan Lemphers worked on a new comprehensive report that lays out the facts surrounding tar sands expansion and the Keystone XL pipeline, which he says is a crucial lynchpin in the development of the tar sands:
The Keystone XL pipeline is critical for further expansion of the oil sands. Major financial institutions in Canada have said that the lack of pipeline capacity is a rate limiting step for the oil sands...if it's (Keystone XL) not build, it'll start to moderate the growth of the oil sands and it will send a clear signal to the financial community and the oil sands community that they need to address the carbon emissions that come from the oil sands.
U.S. new car registration reached 14.5 million vehicles in 2012, which is a big comeback from post-recession years, but still a far cry from the more than 16 million vehicles sold in 2007. But more importantly, a new study shows that Americans are also driving less, and unlike auto sales, the number of culmative miles driven seems to be dropping.
In Europe, the story is much the same; new car registrations are estimated to be around 12.5 million vehicles, and could drop to as low as 11 million cars in 2013. This is the sixth-straight year in which new car sales slowed, as increasing fuel costs and ample public transit options convince Europeans to walk, bike, and take the tube as frequently as possible.
But then there is China, India, and the rest of Southeast Asia. In China alone, there were 19.3 million new car sales despite what can only be described as the ninth level of Traffic Hell and air so thick with pollution that Beijing advises residents not to go outside. And yet car sales in China are still projected to go up another 10% in 2013. There are still plenty of aspirational human beings who need, and want, motorized transportation.
Yet in the Europe and U.S. at least, cars seem to have reached peak popularity. What does this mean for automakers? A lot of things. Suffice to say, this may be a very important point on history...or perhaps just another blip on the graph.
Source: Quartz | Picture: dcmaster
The post Is The First World Hitting Peak Car? appeared first on Gas 2.
http://gas2.org/2013/01/29/is-the-first-world-hitting-peak-car
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081972_honda-to-use-wind-turbines
On January 21st, our nation listened as President Obama made his second inaugural speech. Thousands were in attendance as he made references to a variety of topics including immigration reform, gun violence, equal pay for women, and of course, climate change.
http://theenergycollective.com/sbattaglia/176986/keystone-xl-pipeline-
The great glaciers of South America are disappearing at rates never seen in modern times and the continent's fresh water supply is at serious risk if the trend continues, says a new study. Part of the Pastoruri glacier is seen ...
Shell US Gas & Power LLC (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, and Southern Liquefaction Company, LLC, a Kinder Morgan company and unit of El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB), intend to form a limited liability company to develop a natural gas liquefaction plant in two phases at Southern LNG Company, LLC's (Southern LNG) existing Elba Island LNG Terminal, near Savannah, Ga.
Subject to various corporate and regulatory approvals, Shell and Kinder Morgan affiliates have agreed to modify EPB's Elba Express Pipeline and Elba Island LNG Terminal to physically transport natural gas to the terminal and to load the liquefied natural gas (LNG) onto ships for export.
Once finalized, EPB, through its affiliates, will own 51% of the entity and operate the facility. Shell, through its affiliates, will own the remaining 49% and subscribe to 100% of the liquefaction capacity. The project will use Shell's innovative small-scale liquefaction unit, which will be integrated with the existing Elba Island facility and enable rapid construction compared to traditional large-scale plants.
The total project is expected to have liquefaction capacity of approximately 2.5 million tonnes per year (mtpa) of LNG or 350 million cubic feet of gas per day (Mmcfd). In June 2012, the Elba Island terminal received approval from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to export up to 4 mtpa (500 Mmcfd) of LNG to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries. In August 2012, the terminal submitted a filing to the DOE seeking approval to export up to 4 mtpa (500 Mmcfd) of LNG to non-FTA countries. Phase I of the project, approximately 1.5 mtpa (210 Mmcfd), requires no additional DOE approval.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with a low-cost way to manufacture high-grade silicon, based on a concept familiar to anyone who has tried to make rock candy at home. If the breakthrough can be translated into a commercially viable process, it would make ultra-cheap solar tech like V3Solar's Spin Cell (which we were just raving about the other day) even cheaper.
Ironically, funding for the research project came from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, but maybe they know something we don't.
Cooking Up a Batch of Low-Cost Silicon
Silicon is the key component of conventional solar cells. It comes from silicon dioxide, aka sand, which is one of the cheapest and most abundant materials on Earth, but converting sand into high grade silicon is a high cost, energy intensive process with a pretty significant carbon footprint.
As described by U of Mich writer Kate McAlpine, the new process works at just 180 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a far cry from the 2,000 degrees needed for conventional silicon manufacturing.
The method basically consists of covering a liquid gallium electrode (gallium is a soft whitish metal that has a melting point around room temperature) with a layer of a solution based on silicon tetrachloride (a colorless, flammable liquid).
As in conventional silicon processing, electrons from the metal convert the silicon tetrachloride into raw silicon. The new twist is that by using soft metal with a low melting point, the research team was able to get the raw silicon to form crystals without exposing the solution to additional heat.
A Ways to Go for Low Cost Silicon
The team has observed films of silicon crystals forming on the liquid gallium electrodes, but so far the individual crystals are only about 1/2000th (yes that's 1/2000th) of a millimeter in diameter.
There is still a long way to go before the process jumps from the lab into commercial viability, and the next steps include experimenting with other metal alloys that have low melting points.
Meanwhile, other routes to low-cost silicon based solar power are at or near commercial development, and they could go even lower if the U Mich research pans out.
One approach, illustrated by the aforementioned V3Solar Spin Cell (which by the way began life as Solarphasec), is to squeeze more power out of conventional solar cells by reconfiguring the solar module.
The Spin Cell reboots the typical flat solar panel into a 3-D cone. Along similar lines, MIT researchers have come up with a solar "tower of power" that takes advantage of 3-D angles.
The 3-D concept can also be internalized, as demonstrated by a company called (what else) Solar3D.
On a completely different note, the Obama Administration is also focusing on lowering the "soft costs" of solar power, which typically account for half the cost of a completed solar installation.
The Petroleum Research Fund
Well, here's hoping. In any case, the really interesting part of the story is the involvement of the Petroleum Research Fund, which states at the top of its home page that its mission is to support "fundamental research directly related to petroleum or fossil fuels."
In its vision statement following that declaration, the Fund waxes a little more expansive, describing itself as dedicated to "significantly increasing the world's energy options," though directly after the following note appears: "Proposals will no longer be considered in solar power, which includes photovoltaics and solar cells."
Apparently the U Mich project got in under the wire, but it shouldn't be surprising that a grant-making organization with roots in the petroleum industry was at least once open to solar power research.
Solar power has long been used as an economical way to provide energy to remote oil fields, where grid connections would be difficult if not impossible.
Given the energy intensity of harvesting unconventional oil, most notably from Canada's tar sands, low-cost power in any form would be a welcome development for the petroleum industry.
- Tina Casey, reprinted from Clean Technica with permission
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/01/25/1497561/new-rock-candy-pro
As part of the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative, the US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a new funding opportunity announcement (DE-FOA-0000806) for up to $12 million to develop innovative, ultra-efficient solar devices that will close the gap with the theoretical efficiency limit, or the highest potential percentage of sunlight converted directly into electricity.
In 1961, William Shockley and Hans Queisser published their seminal research detailing the limit of energy conversion efficiency for solar cells. Since then, various solar technologies have come closer to meeting this maximum level, about 30% for a single-junction solar cell.
The new initiative-the Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency II (FPACEII)-aims to accelerate record-breaking conversion efficiencies that will close the gap with this theoretical limit for a variety of PV cells including silicon-based technologies and thin-film materials such as cadmium telluride (CdTe) and cooper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS).
More specifically, the FOA is soliciting collaborative research teams to define and fabricate model systems that utilize a single p-n junction device structure and have the potential to approach the Shockley-Queisser power conversion efficiency limits (for a chosen bandgap and absorber material).
The emphasis of the FOA is assembling cohesive and highly diverse teams of experts within and outside the PV community who can achieve the goals of creating a model system concept and a subsequent device that can approach theoretical limits.
DOE SunShot anticipates significant collaboration between experts in fundamental materials, characterization, device physics, ab-initio simulations, and PV device integration to adequately address these issues.
The new funding opportunity builds on the SunShot Initiative's FPACEI projects awarded in September 2011 which are aimed at eliminating the gap between the efficiencies of best prototype cells achieved in the laboratory and the efficiencies of typical cells produced on manufacturing lines.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--REC Solar partners with AECOM and Ventura County to dedicate a 1.1 megawatt solar system at Moorpark Wastewater Treatment Plant ...
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http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130125005655/en/REC-Solar-Dedi
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Environmentalists waging an ongoing fight against the Keystone XL pipeline were dealt a major setback this week when Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed off on the pipe's route through his state. Now all that stands between TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, and broken ground is a signature from the State Department, the final decision about which is expected this spring.
Between now and then, the sprawling unofficial coalition of green individuals and groups that have bonded in the last two years over opposition to the pipeline is gearing up for a final push. It's certain to be an uphill battle: Yesterday a letter signed by 53 senators put renewed pressure on Obama to say yes, and other than the rare rhetorical nod to climate action there are few clues that he'll approve the project. So the rhetoric of the next couple months could make or break the pipeline.
Opposition to the Keystone XL has tended to coalesce around two different arguments, the tools in the anti-Keystone toolbelt: The first is that the pipe could deal a deadly blow to the global climate by raising the floodgates for oil from Canada's tar sands, believed by scientists to be one of Earth's dirtiest fuel sources; the second is that the pipe could pose a slew of localized threats on its path from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, from potential leaks contaminating groundwater to careless work crews plowing through fragile dinosaur fossil beds. Governor Heineman's decision seems to close the book on the state-level fight and steal some thunder from the localized argument, but leading Nebraska activist Jane Kleeb says local landowners aren't ready to cede their home turf quite yet.
"Oh yeah, it's far from over. We have landowners asking us to train them in civil disobedience," Kleeb said. "These folks are not joking around. They homesteaded this land. They don't trust this company. And they don't want [the pipeline]. So they're going to do everything they can to keep it from crossing their lines."
Nebraska DEQ; Tim McDonnell
Kleeb says although she's made the global climate case to Nebraskans, in her experience the strongest battle strategy focuses on localized issues. She still has one ace in that hole: a lawsuit in Nebraska Supreme Court brought by a trio of landowners against Gov. Heineman, challenging the constitutionality of the state law that allows him to green-light the pipeline. So far the suit hasn't slowed the governor down, but Kleeb is hopeful that if the case falls in her favor it could throw a wrench in the works, regardless of the State Dept.'s decision. And she continues to trumpet the risk the pipeline poses to water and ecological resources in her state, arguing that the state's official map of the pipeline route misrepresents the size of the Sand Hills, a delicate Nebraska ecosystem that the pipe's original route cut straight through but that the approved route purports to make a point of avoiding (see map).
But David Loope, a geologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says perceived threats to the Sand Hills and Nebraska's Ogallala Aquifer, which the pipe is still plotted to cut across, are overblown.
"I'm conflicted," he says. "I think the pipeline is a terrible idea for global reasons. But the hew and cry coming from Nebraska is pure NIMBYism."
Loope says the global climate change argument against the pipeline is far more honest, and he hopes to see that prevail as the leading opposition rallying cry in Washington, DC. There's a good chance it will: Bill McKibben, the environmentalist who's become the Keystone XL's most public opponent, said in an email that while he'd love to help save Nebraska, putting climate front and center is the best way to save the rest of the world, too: "The fight has always been about whether the president actually means what he says about about fighting climate change. We'll find out."
http://climatedesk.org/2013/01/after-nebraska-setback-greens-regroup-o
Rainforest Action Network/Flickr
Earlier this week, the Sierra Club announced that it is lifting its long-standing institutional prohibition on civil disobedience so that it can protest the development of the tar sands. The club's board of directors approved the change, which executive director Michael Brune made public on Tuesday. While staff and board members have previously participated in acts of civil disobedience in a personal capacity, this is the first time that the organization will take part.
The group has been mum on exactly what sort of civil disobedience it is planning. It is cosponsoring an anti-Keystone XL rally on the National Mall on February 17 with 350.org and the Hip-Hop Caucus, but says that the civil disobedience will be a separate event.
I caught up with Brune on Thursday to talk about what this means for the 120-year-old environmental organization.
Mother Jones: So is this only allowing civil disobedience related to the tar sands, or does it open it up the possibility to use it for other issues as well?
Michael Brune: Right now the board has authorized us to do this singular action on tar sands and climate. It will have a broad frame of wanting the president to be as muscular in his approach to fighting climate change as he can, with a particular focus on the tar sands pipeline.
To keep reading, click here.
http://climatedesk.org/2013/01/sierra-club-turns-to-civil-disobedience
Honda Transmission Mfg. of America, Inc. announced an agreement with Juhl Wind, Inc. to develop, install, and operate two utility-scale wind turbines (each rated at about 2MW) to generate electricity for the plant's operations.
The plant manufactures automatic transmissions, gears and four-wheel-drive systems, including the next-generation Earth Dreams transmission technology. The two wind turbines will supply up to approximately 10% of the plant's electricity. Based on their location and actual wind speeds, combined output from the two wind turbines is estimated at 10,000-megawatt hours (MWh) per year.
Once the turbines begin operating later this year, the Honda transmission plant in Russells Point, Ohio will be the first major automotive manufacturing facility in the United States to obtain a substantial amount of its electricity directly from wind turbines located on its property.
Studies commissioned by Honda Transmission indicate that wind-generated power is a cost-effective source of electricity for the plant and that the project will not adversely impact local wildlife or the environment.
The decision to go forward with the project followed a thorough evaluation of renewable energy sources for the plant, which Honda announced in February 2012. The turbines, with blades approximately 160 feet (49 meters) long, will be installed on 260-foot (79 meters) towers on Honda Transmission property, which is suited for a maximum of two wind turbines. Last June, the Washington Township (Logan County, Ohio) Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance to the height limitation for the wind turbines.
Juhl Wind will be primary developer of the project and own the two turbines. Through agreements with Honda Transmission, Juhl will generate electricity for the plant, and be responsible for the interconnect agreement with the Logan County Electric Cooperative and the power purchase agreement with Buckeye Power, Inc.
Globally, Honda has established voluntary goals to reduce the environmental impact of its products and manufacturing operations by 2020. This includes a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions from Honda products, and significant CO2 reductions from the company's plants and other operations, compared with year 2000 levels.
To achieve these new environmental targets, Honda is accelerating its efforts to advance the environmental performance of its products, and its operations throughout North America. The wind turbine project is among a number of other initiatives at Honda plants to reduce energy use and waste from manufacturing operations.
Two Honda automobile plants in Ohio have earned the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) ENERGY STAR certification for the sixth year, while a Honda auto plant in Indiana earned the designation for the first time in 2012, boosted by energy efficiency gains from the start of a second shift of auto production.
Honda leads all automakers with twelve LEED-Certified "Green Buildings" in North America, and 10 of its 14 North American manufacturing facilities are zero-waste to landfill.
Honda of America Mfg. auto plants in Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio have ongoing initiatives to reduce energy consumption. Major areas include installation of energy-efficient equipment, implementing new technologies in auto-body painting systems and lighting efficiency improvements.
See that cluster of lights by North Dakota? That's the result of fracking. Six years ago that light cluster did not exist. The reason is over the past years natural gas extraction though the use of fracking has increased exponentially as a result of the push for alternative fuel use and technological achievements.
Fracking is the controversial method of extracting natural gas from shale rock using a chemical and water mixture. Depending on the methods used, some 29% of the gas being extracted can go to waste-or rather, into creating this light show.
That light cluster is fire of natural gas burning as companies work all night to extract resources from the Bakken formation under North Dakota; a place whose citizens now call the "Kuwait on the prairie".
The natural gas rush has been so sudden that North Dakota now has the lowest unemployment rate in the country - more than 41,000 workers got jobs there between 2008 and 2012. Additionally, seven years ago, the U.S. was importing 60% of its oil. Now oil imports are down to 42%. The Bakken fields play a major role in this.
Natural gas is indeed making an impact, be it for better or for worse, and an impact that is now visible from space! The picture was taken by NASA's Earth Observatory, which orbits the planet twice a day some 512 miles up.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Andrew Meggison was born in the state of Maine and educated in Massachusetts. Andrew earned a Bachelor's Degree in Government and International Relations from Clark University and a Master's Degree in Political Science from Northeastern University. Being an Eagle Scout, Andrew has a passion for all things environmental. In his free time Andrew enjoys writing, exploring the great outdoors, a good film, and a creative cocktail. You can follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewMeggison
The post The Impact Of Fracking On America's Economy... From Space appeared first on Gas 2.
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