Future Energy Technology News

[Graeme]

Sand an unlikely energy source - scientist

Prof Bardsley said solar energy could be used to create the silicon from sand at smelters on the desert margins.
While the silicon would then have to be transported, this could eventually be done using silicon-powered bulk carriers, he said.
A large solar power system in Australia could provide silicon fuel for a modified Huntly power station, he said.
There was no direct research yet about silicon power stations, but Prof Bardsley said work was already underway in the silicon chip industry to develop carbon-neutral methods of making small amounts of silicon, and research in Japan was looking at adapting this to large-scale silicon production.
He said Singapore, China or Abu Dhabi were likely to be the first to build prototype silicon power stations.

nzherald

[Graeme]

Harnessing Microbes To Meet Our Future Energy Needs

"Photosynthetic bacteria can capture sunlight energy at rates 100 times or more greater than plants, and they do not compete for arable land," Rittmann said. This high rate of energy capture means that renewable biofuels can be generated in quantities that rival our current use of fossil fuels.
In addition, non-photosynthetic microorganisms are capable of converting the energy value of all kinds of biomass, including wastes, into readily useful energy forms, such as methane, hydrogen, and electricity.
"Microorganisms can provide just the services our society needs to move from fossil fuels to renewable biofuels," said Rittmann. "Only the microorganisms can pass all the tests, and we should take full advantage of the opportunities that microorganisms present."

sciencedaily

[Graeme]

Cost of Solar Panels Expected To Plummet

Solar photovoltaics have their challenges, from shortages of silicon to the sheer cost of purchasing and installing solar panels, but a new report from the Prometheus Institute says that both these problems will be addressed over the next few years, leading to cheaper solar and an abundance of capacity to produce.
Based on their research, Travis Bradford, president of the Institute, says that prices for traditional silicon-based panels should fall from $3.66 per watt (2007 figures) to $2.14 per watt in 2010, and more impressively, thin-film PV should go to $1.81 per watt from $2.96. When coal, currently the least expensive source of power, is about $1.00 per watt to generate, the expected drop in price for solar will make it far more competative.
The current global production capacity for silicon and thin-film panels is around 3.14 gigawatts, but will hit 12.36 gigawatts in 2010. That's an increase of just under 400%, an enormous amount that is sure to be welcomed by the environmental community.
It may also, though this is probably wishful thinking, push governments to start offering more incentives to those who install solar in a bid to use up the remaining capacity and financially support their manufacturers who by this point will be a very large industry, employing tens of thousands of people.

ecogeek

[mos6507]

Sand an unlikely energy source - scientist

Prof Bardsley said solar energy could be used to create the silicon from sand at smelters on the desert margins.
While the silicon would then have to be transported, this could eventually be done using silicon-powered bulk carriers, he said.
A large solar power system in Australia could provide silicon fuel for a modified Huntly power station, he said.
There was no direct research yet about silicon power stations, but Prof Bardsley said work was already underway in the silicon chip industry to develop carbon-neutral methods of making small amounts of silicon, and research in Japan was looking at adapting this to large-scale silicon production.
He said Singapore, China or Abu Dhabi were likely to be the first to build prototype silicon power stations.

nzherald

In the other thread the presumption was that solar panels can't create solar panels. Hopefully that will be disproven.

[Graeme]

Jatropha plant's oil studied as jet fuel

If all goes well this summer, an Air New Zealand 747 jumbo jet will take off from Auckland this fall powered by fuel refined from the seed of a fast-growing weed.

The three-hour test flight could mark one of the more promising -- and more unusual -- steps by the financially strapped airline industry to find cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil fuel.

The secret: oil from poisonous seeds of the jatropha tree, which grows in warm climates around the world. For the last year, scientists here have been perfecting a process for turning the oil into jet fuel. On Wednesday, the airline announced plans to use the new fuel for 10% of its needs by 2013.

latimes

[Graeme]

Algae: the big idea for future energy

Algae, that green stuff in your pond, is being used to make biodiesel in New Zealand. Algae can grow almost anywhere, even in deserts. And some species grow so fast that they double in size three or four times a day. According to Fred Krupp, author of the excellent Earth: The Sequel, it would take only 47 million acres of algae to produce fuel for half of America's cars, compared with 1.5 billion acres of soy beans. I never knew pondlife was so exciting.

Algae also eat carbon dioxide at a similarly prolific rate. That makes them multitasking miracle-workers: both a fuel and a way to clean up power-plant emissions. Not surprisingly, several companies are now trying to move from relatively small algae beds to industrial scale.

If we could all stop resenting each other's prosperity, we might just build an economy where the price of oil no longer matters. And where the humble algae could, at the very least, power one person to the shops without taking someone else's food off the table.

timesonline

[Graeme]

Nuclear renaissance or nuclear illusion?

After decades of contentious debate over nuclear power, a world-wide consensus is emerging: nuclear energy is making a comeback.

There is a string of developments that point to the conclusion that this time, in an era of concern over the environmental damage caused by coal-fired power plants, the renaissance might be for real.

Polls show that fears over the safety of nuclear plants have receded. In the United States, the presidential candidates are open to nuclear power, though both Democratic aspirants oppose a crucial waste repository the Bush administration wants to build in the Nevada desert. Across much of Europe, governments are reconsidering anti-nuclear policies. India and China have announced plans for vast expansions of their nuclear capacity. Around the world, 14 countries are building nuclear reactors.

reuters

[Graeme]

Nuclear questions for Lovins

Amory Lovins is on the warpath against nuclear power, battling the industry PR push that says nuclear is a viable climate solution. He's got a new report, co-authored with Imran Sheikh, called "The Nuclear Illusion" [PDF]. Spinning off from that report are a Newsweek article called "Missing the Market Meltdown" and an article on the RMI site called "Forget Nuclear."

I was on a conference call with Lovins earlier today in which he discussed the report. Tomorrow, I'll be talking to him one-on-one.

What should I ask him?

grist

[Graeme]

Green Job Forecast for the Growing Green Economy

Millions of U.S. workers already have the skills and experience to fill the jobs needed to fight climate change and build a green economy in the United States, finds a report issued today that was commissioned by the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC.

As its standard, the report focuses on six key strategies for tackling global warming - building retrofitting, mass transit, energy-efficient automobiles, wind power, solar power, and cellulosic biomass fuels.

The majority of jobs associated with these strategies are in areas of employment that people already work in today, in every region and state of the country, according to the report, which was authored by Robert Pollin and Jeanette Wicks-Lim of the Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

It is being released in cooperation with the Green Jobs for America Campaign, a partnership of the Sierra Club, Blue Green Alliance, United Steelworkers, NRDC and with the Center for American Progress and Green for All.

ens-newswire

[MD]

Good stuff Graeme, thanks.

[Graeme]

You're welcome MD. Thank you for the compliment.

Sapphire Energy unveils world’s first renewable gasoline

As ethanol and biodiesel help to allay some of the strain caused by increasing core commodity prices and imported oil nearing $140 a barrel, research conducted on biomass feedstocks such as algae continues to gain traction as a viable means for “closing the loop” on energy sustainability.

One company in particular is striving to meet this goal.

San Diego, Calif.-based Sapphire Energy was founded in 2006 on the basis of this principle philosophy when it debuted its “green crude”, a gasoline equivalent refined from algae that comes in light and heavy fractions; the light being gasoline and a heavy being kero-disel (or jet aircraft fuel). Although it won’t divulge its production process specifically, according to Sapphire Chief Executive Officer Jason Pyle, the company is producing 91 octane gasoline built on the platform that uses nothing more than sunlight, carbon dioxide and complex photosynthetic microorganisms.


The standard is something definitely worth being exuberant about. In making its green crude, Sapphire doesn’t use food-based feedstocks, freshwater or agricultural land. As for its immediate plans, Pyle said the company is currently deploying a three-year pilot process with the goal of opening a 153 MMgy (10,000 barrel per day) production facility by 2011 at a site yet to be determined.

When the “green crude” is produced at commercial scale, there will be benefits. Sapphire’s “green crude” product would be completely fungible within the current oil and gas infrastructure, an advantage that would leverage the company’s product in a non-invasive manner in the existing oil pipeline, Pyle said.

biomassmagazine

[Graeme]

Toyota develops improved hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it has developed an advanced fuel-cell vehicle that can run for 830 km (516 miles) on a single tank of hydrogen and in temperatures as low as 30 degrees Celsius below freezing (-22 F).

The zero-emission FCHV-adv will be leased to government agencies, among other possible users, in Japan starting later this year, a spokeswoman said.


Toyota's FCHV-adv, which uses a nickel-metal hydride battery, will be showcased as a test-ride vehicle at the Group of Eight rich nations' summit in Toyako, northern Japan, next month.

reuters

[Graeme]

Green fuel from a brown source

Some California drivers may tool around in poop-powered cars as early as next year.

They can fill up at a sewage treatment facility run by the Orange County Sanitation District, which plans to turn the inflow of excrement and other waste into hydrogen for vehicles that run on fuel-cell systems.

"This is kind of a Holy Grail in the search for renewable energy sources," said Scott Samuelsen, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California's Irvine campus. "This is not something we're at risk of running out of."


If the experimental model is a success, Air Products may develop one big enough to produce hydrogen for as many as 400 vehicle refills and two megawatts of power, Kiczek said.

The goal of FuelCell Energy, based in Danbury, Conn., is to sell similar fuel-cell generators for about $3,000 per kilowatt they produce, said Chris Bentley, executive vice president.

canada

[Graeme]

As energy bills soar, Japanese test fuel of future

As world oil prices skyrocket, thousands of households in energy-poor Japan are taking part in an ambitious experiment to use fuel cells to light and heat their homes.

Since the prime minister's official residence became the first house in the world to be equipped with a domestic fuel cell in 2005, about 3,000 households have signed up to have the grey boxes installed outside their homes.

The project aims to thrust Japan to the forefront of a "hydrogen society" that has kicked its addiction to fossil fuels and produces affordable energy while spewing out far less of the greenhouse gas that is blamed for global warming.


The government-sponsored fuel cell scheme involves a clutch of Japanese energy and technology heavyweights including Nippon Oil, Tokyo Gas, Sanyo Electric, Toshiba, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toyota Motor.

The government estimates there could be demand for 550,000 domestic fuel cells a year in Japan within a few years. There are 48 million households in Japan, of which 25 million live in individual houses.

For now, however, the system is expensive at about two million yen, or some 19,000 dollars, excluding installation. Research is underway to make the machines as economical as possible thanks to less expensive sources of hydrogen.

Thanks to reductions in the cost of components, the companies involved in the project hope to reduce the price of the equipment to one million yen as soon as possible to boost demand, and to cut it further to 500,000 yen in 2015.

yahoo

[Graeme]

Breakthrough Technology Produces Hydrogen From Chemical Residuals

In a major sustainability milestone for the industry, InEnTec Chemical LLC yesterday announced it successfully completed demonstration of its mobile Plasma Enhanced Melter(TM: 102.64, -4.10, -3.84%) (PEM(TM: 102.64, -4.10, -3.84%)) system for four of the world's largest chemical companies to produce ultra clean, hydrogen rich synthesis gas (referred to as "syngas") from chemical residuals that would normally be treated as hazardous waste and incinerated. This follows a recent announcement by Dow Corning to adopt InEnTec Chemical's technology for application at its Midland Michigan plant.

"We are excited to be able to help some of the nation's leading chemical companies meet their commercial sustainability goals," said Gary Cook, Chief Executive Officer of InEnTec Chemical. "This is the beginning of a new era -- the commercialization of transforming hazardous waste into valuable products. As far as we know, no one has previously found a way to extract the chemical or product value out of these materials on a commercial scale."

The demonstrations showed that organic residuals can be easily processed in the PEM(TM) to produce a high quality syngas. The syngas can be used to make high purity hydrogen, methanol, hydrogen/carbon monoxide ("HyCO"), and other products used by chemical and refining plants. The use of chemical residuals as feedstock to produce hydrogen and other products reduces the amount of non-renewable natural gas that would otherwise be used to make these products.

foxbusiness

[Graeme]

DuPont eyes $1 billion in solar revenue by 2013

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. will double the manufacturing capacity of its electronic materials plant in Dongguan, China, as part of a move to grow its solar energy products business to $1 billion in five years, the company said Monday.

The materials technology company said it'll ramp up production of its Solamet thick-film metallization paste for solar cells as it eyes the booming business of generating precious electricity from the sun.

"The photovoltaic industry is in the midst of a substantial surge globally, and demand for solar as a renewable energy source will continue to increase," said Timothy McCann, vice president and general manager in charge of DuPont Electronic Technologies.

marketwatch

Solar Symbiosis: Making a Clean Break

In previous articles I have discussed the possible change for American society that could come about through an epiphany of solar power onto the landscape of our energy industry. Solar power has several defining characteristics that make it a disruptive technology - a paradigm shift not unlike the move from wood to coal to steam to oil. It rivals the Internet for the kinds of changes it could bring about in an exceedingly short time span.

In the 21st century the role of refined silicon is going to expand into power generation and lighting. I think the move will be from a centralized view of power production to a de-centralized or "mesh" build out of power. This migration could also transform our ailing automobile and construction industries, which I will explain later in this missive.

seekingalpha

[Graeme]

Glass Microspheres To Carry Hydrogen, Deliver Drugs, Filter Gases And Detect Nuclear Development

What looks like a fertilized egg, flows like water, gets stuffed with catalysts and exotic nanostructures and may have the potential of making the current retail gasoline infrastructure compatible with hydrogen-based vehicles of the future -- not to mention also contributing to arenas such as nuclear proliferation and global warming?

The answer is contained in the June issue of The Bulletin, the monthly magazine of The American Ceramic Society, which carries the first news of a never-before-seen class of materials and technology developed by scientists at the Savannah River National Laboratory.

This unique material, dubbed Porous Wall-Hollow Glass Microspheres (PW-HGM), consists of porous glass 'microballoons' that are smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The key characteristic of these 2-100 micron spheres is an interconnected porosity in their thin outer walls that can be produced and varied on a scale of 100 to 3,000 Angstroms.


The SRNL team is involved in more than a half dozen programs and collaborations involving the PW-HGMs in areas such as hydrogen storage in vehicles (Toyota), gas purification and separations, and even very diverse applications including abatement of global warming effects, improving lead-acid battery performance and nuclear non-proliferation. Applications such as the development of new drug delivery systems and MRI contrast agents are also blossoming in the medical field (Medical College of Georgia).

sciencedaily

[Graeme]

Toyota to start lithium-ion battery output in 2009

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its battery joint venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) will start limited production of lithium-ion batteries in 2009, moving into full-scale production the following year.

The joint venture, called Panasonic EV Energy Co, currently produces nickel-metal hydride batteries used in Toyota's gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.

Many big automakers are working in partnership with battery makers on developing vehicle-use lithium-ion batteries, which can store more energy in smaller packages and are seen as crucial for lowering costs and extending the cruising distance of pure electric vehicles.

Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, also said in a statement it would establish later this month a battery research department to develop next-generation batteries that would outperform lithium-ion batteries.

reuters

[Graeme]

Fusion reactor faces cost hike

A massive international nuclear fusion experiment planned for Cadarache, France, is set to cost up to 30% more than anticipated and be delayed by as much as three years, governments will learn next week.

Construction has not even begun on the ITER fusion reactor, which has been beset by political wrangling since its inception. Now its seven international backers are to be told they will have to come up with an extra €1.2 billion–1.6 billion (US$1.9 billion–2.5 billion) on top of its current €5-billion construction budget if the project is to be realized.

A report from a group of scientific advisers says the additional money is needed for critical design changes and for coordinating between the participant nations. And the experiment, already delayed, will not be completed until anywhere from one to three years after its current 2016 due date.


But ITER officials maintain that the new budget and schedule are achievable and that the review could not have come sooner because the ITER organization was only formed in 2006. “A good, rigorous review could only be done now,” says Neil Calder, a spokesman for the project.

nature

[Graeme]

Knights in shining armor

The upcoming NewSpace 2008 conference will feature a panel on it. The International Space Development Conference in Washington, DC featured no less than three—yes, three—sessions on space solar power, or SSP, to use the shorthand term, plus a dinner speaker who addressed the same subject. With all of this attention, one would suspect that there has been a fundamental technological breakthrough that now makes SSP possible, or a major private or government initiative to begin at least preliminary work on a demonstration project. But there has been none of this. In fact, from a technological standpoint, we are not much closer to space solar power today than we were when NASA conducted a big study of it in the 1970s.

The second reason is a 2007 study produced by the National Security Space Office (NSSO) on SSP. The space activist community has determined that the Department of Defense is the knight in shining armor that will deliver them to their shining castles in the sky.

The NSSO study is remarkably sensible and even-handed and states that we are nowhere near developing practical SSP and that it is not a viable solution for even the military’s limited requirements. It states that the technology to implement space solar power does not currently exist… and is unlikely to exist for the next forty years. Substantial technology development must occur before it is even feasible.

Although NASA has a bad public record for cost overruns, the DoD’s less-public record is far worse, and military space has a bad reputation in Congress, which would never allow such a big, expensive new program to be started.

Again, this is not to insult the fine work conducted by those who produced the NSSO space solar power study. They accomplished an impressive amount of work without any actual resources.

thespacereview