The Energy Blog

New Small Scale Hydrogen Production Method

Greenshift Corporation (OTC: GSHF.OB) today announced the formation of General Ultrasonics Corporation that owns patented technologies that use ultrasonic energies to enable a new type of hydrogen reformation that is capable of significantly reducing the scale at which hydrogen production is cost-effective.

This reduction in scale is made possible by a demonstrated 25% reduction in the temperatures required to affect the reformation reaction as compared to standard steam reformation of natural gas (SRNG), and even greater gains as compared to partial oxidation processes (POX).

Video Clip on Ocean Power Technologies PowerBuoy

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has a nice video clip of it's PowerBuoy™ which can be found here (windows media player).  Wave power has the advantage that it can produce power continuously and has the potential to compete with fossil fuel power, without having the visual distractions of wind power.  OPT's PowerBuoy™ is designed to be deployed in approximately 100 feet (30 meters) of water. Inside, a piston-like structure moves as the PowerBuoy™ bobs with the rise and fall of the waves.  This movement drives a generator on the ocean floor, producing electricity, which is sent to the shore by an underwater cable.  A previous post on Wave Power has further information about OPT.

Earlier this month OPT announced that they had been selected to install a 5 MW system off the north coast of Cornwall, UK.  This is their sixth installation, other project sites include Spain, France Hawaii and New Jersey.

Technorati tags: wave power, ocean power, energy, technology

DOE Awards FuelCell Energy Contract to Develop 100 MW Fuel Cell Power Plants

The Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the third project selected under its new Fuel Cell Coal-Based Systems program. FuelCell Energy, Inc., of Danbury, Conn., will conduct research ultimately leading to the development of near-zero emission fuel cell power plants that efficiently convert coal to electricity.

Under the project FuelCell Energy is to develop an affordable fuel-cell-based technology that will operate on synthesis gas from a coal gasifier. The key objectives of the project are:

• Development of fuel cell technologies, fabrication processes, and manufacturing infrastructure and capabilities for scale-up of solid oxide fuel cell stacks for large, multi-megawatt base-load power generation plants.
• The implementation of an innovative system concept for the design of a power plant larger than 100 megawatts,
• The power plant is expected to achieve greater than 50 percent overall efficiency, approaching 60% of the higher heating value of coal.
• Near-zero levels of emissions of sulfur dioxide and NOx, to the environment.
• Capture of 90 percent or more of the system's CO2 emissions
• Cost of $400 per kilowatt, exclusive of the coal gasification unit and CO2-separation subsystems.

Zap Smart Car to be Available Soon

After a number of false starts ZAP (PCX:ZP) now claims it is about to start selling the Smart Car, the  fuel-efficient micro-car from Europe.  ZAP is preparing to distribute the cars along with other models through a dealer network it is forming in the U.S. that specializes in advanced automotive technologies.

According to the UK website/technical information, the 61 hp Smart fortwo which appears to be the car that is being sold in the US has the following fuel consumption, m/usg (l/100km):

• Urban                  38.6 (6.1) - 39.3 (6.0)
• Extra urban cycle  57.4 (4.1) - 58.7 (4.0)
• Combined cycle    49.0 (4.8) - 50.1 (4.7)

Some of the vital statistics for the Smart Car are:

PERFORMANCE

• Top speed: 85 mph
• Sequential 6-speed transmission
• Automatic or manual mode selectable
• Tank Capacity: 8.7 gallons

DIMENSIONS

• Weight: 1588 lbs
• Length: 8'2.5"
• Width: 4'11.5"
• Height: 5'

Additional features of the American Smart Car can be found at the Zap website.

Energy Storage: A Nontechnical Guide

I recently received the book, Energy Storage: A Nontechnical Guide, by Richard Baxter, which I enjoyed reading and would recommend to anyone who would like a good reference on energy storage.

The book is written in a language that should be easily understandable to anyone, technically trained or not.  It clearly explains how energy storage can decouple generation from demand, thus making possible a variety of uses including:  storing power during off peak for use during peak periods, smoothing peaks and valleys in demand, eliminating or delaying expansion of generating facilities, dispatchable power, reducing the intermittency of renewable resources, making the grid more reliable and improving the quality of power.

Over one-third of the book is devoted to a description of 10 energy storage technologies. It goes through a comprehensive description of each technology from an overview to more details on several aspects of the technology, examples of installations and the status and challenges facing each storage technology. The design and operation narratives go into enough detail to fully understand the technology without bogging down the reader with theoretical details. His many examples of how energy storage is or could be used make it much easier to understand the technologies and how they can be used. 

The chapters on how energy storage can benefit the electric power industries and the role energy storage could play with renewable energy generation are very insightful to understanding the potential of energy storage systems.  The role energy storage systems can play in stabilizing our increasingly unstable grid while reducing the need for many new generating facilities and transmission lines is an important concept which shows that our grid can be more distributed than was once believed. 

Ethanol Outlook 2006

From Niche to Nation: Ethanol Outlook 2006  just released by the the Renewable Fuels Association "reflects the unprecedented growth that has occurred over the past several years.  Once serving just a niche market in the Midwest, ethanol is now a ubiquitous component of the U.S. transportation fuels market as ethanol is now sold from coast to coast and is now blended in 30% of the nations gasoline."

This 24 page report deserves a read by anyone interested in ethanol. A couple of excerpts follow:

In response to rising demand, U.S. ethanol production broke both monthly and annual production records for 2005. For the year, 95 ethanol refineries located in 19 states produced a record 4 billion gallons, an increase of 17% from 2004 and 126% since 2001.

Fourteen new refineries were completed and brought online in 2005. These new refineries, combined with expansions at existing facilities, resulted in record annual capacity growth of 779 million gallons. At the end of 2005, 29 ethanol refineries and nine expansions were under construction with a combined annual capacity of more than 1.5 billion gallons.

Honda May Market Hybrid Fit

Honda plans to sell a hybrid version of its Fit subcompact model globally as early as the business year starting in April 2007, the Nihon Keizai business daily reported on Wednesday.

According to a Reuters story the Fit would sell for $11,780 only $1,715 more than the gasoline version.  Honda is developing a smaller motor and battery to reduce the hybrid's cost and weight, the Nihon Keizai said. The hybrid unit would have a one-liter engine the paper said.

Honda has refused to confirm the story.

Technorati tags: vehicles, hybrid vehicles, energy, technology

Fuel Cell Generator Sets Record Efficiency

The following press release indicates the continuing progress that fuel cell systems are making in the stationary power sector. This sector, along with the specialty vehicle, ie fork lifts, etc, is going to remain the mainstay of the fuel cell industry for quite some time.

DANBURY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2006-- FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of ultra-clean and efficient electric power generation plants for commercial and industrial customers, today announced that its patented Direct FuelCell/Turbine(R) (DFC/T(R)) achieved a record-setting performance -- establishing a mark of 56 percent electrical efficiency in the sub-megawatt (sub-MW) class for 800 continuous hours during initial testing.

This significantly exceeds the electrical efficiency of other distributed generation technologies of similar size. For example, gas engines have an electrical efficiency of 30 to 42 percent, low temperature fuel cells have an electrical efficiency of 30 to 35 percent and microturbines have an electrical efficiency of 25 to 30 percent. ....

The DFC/T system is based on FuelCell Energy's 250 kilowatt (kW) Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plant and an integrated 60 kW microturbine from Capstone Turbine Corporation. Heat generated by the fuel cell is used to drive a modified unfired microturbine to generate additional electricity. The supplemental microturbine power increases the electrical efficiency and reduces the cost of power generated without using additional fuel. The combined-cycle DFC/T system has the same ultra-clean emissions profile of FuelCell Energy's Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plants.

Technorati tags: fuel cells, electric generation, energy, technology

Why is Oil Still so High Priced?

This Week in Petroleum for February 23, 2006 has a couple of reasons why the price of oil remains relatively high. The primary reason is fairly obvious to me: "the lack of spare capacity throughout the supply chain." The second is: "the market is in contango, which is defined as a market in which prices for commodities delivered in future months are increasingly higher than for those delivered in months closer to the present."

Their concise explanation of these two factors is worth a read.

Technorati tags: oil, energy, technology

BP Investigating Sequestration Options

As a follow-up to this previous post regarding BP's announcement that they were building a gasification plant to produce hydrogen to fuel an electric turbine/generator and then inject the CO2 that was produced by the process into an oil field for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and sequestration.

According to this Oil & Gas Journal article, BP and Occidental Petroleum are discussing options for injecting carbon dioxide captured at a power plant into Oxy's oil fields for enhanced recovery and sequestration. Studies are underway to determine which oil fields are best suited for injection.

Technorati tags: global warming, sequestration, energy, technology

Offfshore Wind Energy in Danger

Cape Wind Farm and other offshore wind farms will be in danger if the current bill in congressional committee of congress is passed. Representative Don Young, of Alaska, an advocate of ANWR, is trying to kill plans for the first offshore wind farm in America and ALL offshore wind farms within 1.5 nautical miles of any shipping lane, even though oil platforms can be built within 500 feet of shipping lanes.

As I understand it the bill requires the Coast Guard to prohibit any offshore wind farm from being located within 1.5 nautical miles of a shipping channel or ferry route. This will restrict much-needed clean energy development from offshore wind farms but will not provide additional marine safety.

In addition, it conflicts with the intent of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  According to that act the Secretary of Interior, in consultation with the Coast Guard and other agencies, has the responsibility to develop "any necessary regulations."

The bill is still in committee that may be act on it as early as Monday or Tuesday of next week, this is the place to stop it. It is an amendment, so it would be a little bit more difficult to stop in the House or Senate.  Please contact the following congressmen to express your opinion:

Senators on Committee:

Stevens, Snowe, Lott, Smith, Inouye, Cantwell and Lautenberg

House Reps on Committee:

Young (AK), LoBiondo, Coble, Hoekstra, Simmons, Diaz-Balart, M., Boustany, Oberstar, Filner, Taylor (MS), Higgins, Schwartz (PA); Barton (TX), Gillmor, Dingell, Lungren, Daniel E., Reichert, Thompson (MS), Pombo, Jones (NC), and Pallone.

See here, here and here for more details and opinions on the proposed legislation and the debate over the Cape Wind Farm.

IGCC Project Gets Started

IGCC is finally getting underway as indicated by the following announcement.  It isn't surprising that the first commercial plant will use gasifier technology developed by the government.  The government is putting up nearly half of the money for the project, which seems too much, but the price for progress comes high.  I assume they are justifying that because the gasifier technology has not been proven on such a large scale.  Subtracting 10% for engineering from the total results in a cost of $1,759/kw.  Scaling that up the 285 MW plant by the 0.7 power to 500 MW results in $1,484/kW which is close to the $1,500/W cost they are forecasting for that size IGCC plants.  IGCC plants reduce emissions of SO2, NOx and mercury to much lower levels than required by EPA. Although the plant does not use sequestration of the CO2, it will reduce the CO2 emissions by 20-25% compared to more conventional plants.  The reduction comes primarily from the increased efficiency of the plant. The plant was first announced in October of 2004, but the formal agreement was not signed until today.

ATLANTA, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southern Company and the U.S. Department of Energy have signed a cooperative agreement to formally launch the design and construction of an advanced 285-megawatt integrated gasification combined cycle facility in central Florida, which will be the cleanest, most efficient generating technology in the world today using coal as its fuel source. 

Southern Company, in partnership with Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) and Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), will develop the facility through its Southern Power subsidiary, which builds, owns, and manages the company's competitive generation assets. It will be located at OUC's Stanton Energy Center in Orange County, Fla., near Orlando. ....

Thin-film Solar to Increase Market Share

Red Herring has an interesting article exhorting the virtues of thin-film solar PV technologies compared to silicon technologies which you might find interesting. Here is a small excerpt.

Crystalline photovoltaic (PV) technologies are the kings of the solar world, with 93 percent of the market, according to Paula Mints, an associate director at Navigant Consulting. But they are heavily based on expensive silicon.

The attraction of thin films is that they use much less silicon—only a thin film—or, in some cases, none at all, instead opting for materials like cadmium telluride (CdTe), or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS).

Still, thin films make up only 7 percent, or 90.2 megawatts, of the market; the same percentage as in 2004, Ms. Mints said.

She forecasts that thin films will grow to 8 percent of the burgeoning solar market in 2006, while Michael Rogol, an analyst for CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, expects thin films to jump to more than 10 percent of a 2-gigawatt, $16-billion solar market this year.

Technorati tags: solar, PV solar, solar power, energy, technology

China's Massive Nuclear Program May Have Widespread Effects

China's plans to have an installed capacity of 40 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2020, meaning it has to start construction of two or three 1,000 MW plants each year.  This could have severe effects on the price of uranium, especially when considering the other plants that are planned for Asia, which has already tripled since 2004 to $35 a pound.  Means of combating uranium usage include:

• Building fast breeder reactors that generate more fuel than they use
• Designing plants that use less uranium
• Exploration for uranium beyond its borders

They are still developing plans for disposal of their nuclear waste.

Two plants are due to be completed this year and three more are under construction using Chinese designs and bidding is underway to build four units with foreign designs.

China's current nuclear capacity is under 10 GW. By comparison (2002 data from International Energy Outlook 2005) Western Europe had 127 GW the US 99 GW, Japan 46 GW and Russia 21 GW. 

Resource: China Seeks New Nuclear Designs Using Less Uranium, Reuters via Planet Ark, Feb. 22, 2006

Technorati tags: nuclear, energy, technology

Aerogel Capacitor Electrode Material Announced

Aerogel Composite, Inc. (ACI) announced today that a carbon aerogel ultracapacitor electrode material with unusually large amount of energy storage for its size is available for sale.  Aerogels are solid substances similar to gels but where the internal liquid is replaced with air. Ultracapacitors are of particular interest in automotive applications for hybrid vehicles and as supplemental storage for battery electric vehicles. The following statement from their press release defines the performance of the product:

The extremely high electrochemical surface area of ACI's ENERGel(TM) carbon aerogel enables very high rates of charge and discharge. Capacitance's of more than 104 F/g and energy densities of more than 325 kJ/kg have been demonstrated with carbon aerogels ultracapacitors. Additionally, power densities of up to 20 kW/kg have been achieved. This is orders of magnitude higher than what conventional capacitors offer. ACI believes that its ENERGel(TM) carbon aerogel is a superior option for applications such as specialized electrodes.

Reference: Aerogel Composite announces ENERGel(TM) Ultracapacitor, Greenshift press release, Feb. 21, 2005

Technorati tags: ultracapacitors, energy storage, energy, technology

South Africa Claims Breakthorough in PV Solar

According to an article on the IOL, South Africa website, scientist Professor Vivan Alberts and his colleagues at the University of Johannesburg (formerly Rand Afrikaans University) have achieved a breakthrough in developing a "revolutionary, new highly efficient solar power technology" after 10 years of research.  Panels will be available within a year.  The technology has been patented throughout the world. It is claimed to be "much more efficient than the costly old silicon solar panels."

The article goes on to say:

Brown Will Become More Green

UPS announced on February 17 that it would purchase 50 new-generation hybrid delivery trucks in two sizes from International Truck and Engine and Freightliner LLC.

The trucks will feature lithium ion batteries that are capable of faster re-charging and have a longer life than batteries used in previous generations of HEV’s. The first of the 50 HEV’s will be deployed in Dallas this June. The UPS alternative fuel fleet - at 1,500 vehicles one of the largest in the United States - currently includes trucks powered by compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, propane, electricity and hydrogen.

UPS will also purchase 4,100 low-emission conventional vehicles in 2006.  UPS anticipates reducing fuel consumption by 40,000+ gallons per year on the HEV's, and 1.5 million gallons per year on the conventional vehicles. The conventional vehicles should achieve a 15 percent improvement in fuel economy.

This is one of the largest purchases of vehicles using lithium ion batteries.  I wonder whose batteries are being used. No post on Green Car Congress on this announcement to give me any clues.  I really think half of the reason for this post was so I could use the headline.

Technorati tags: vehicles, hybrid vehicles, energy, technology

SolFocus-PARC Collaborate on Concentrator PV

SolFocus Inc., a spinoff from H2Go in 2004, and Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) on February 16 announced a research collaboration to develop solar Concentrator PV (CPV) systems. The broad agreement is to jointly develop CPV systems that can deliver low-cost, reliable solar energy.  SolFocus CPV solutions can potentially:

• advance the market beyond current flat-plate silicon PV and it underlying cost limitations;
• deliver both short- and long-term cost advantages which is the critical metric of market success;
• position CPV to be competitive with conventional electricity; and
• open large new markets for clean solar energy

The venture builds on the original SolFocus design for concentrator photovoltaic technology (shown left). CPV technology creates electricity by using precision optical components such as lenses and mirrors to direct and “concentrate” sunlight onto high-efficiency solar cells.  SolFocus’s prototype solar panels are smaller, cheaper, and easier to manufacture than the flat-plate photovoltaic panels that currently dominate the market.

New Solar Hydrogen Production Method

Sandia Lab researcher Rich Diver has invented a new way to make hydrogen using solar energy.  Using rings containing reactive ferrite material, relatively cool ferrite absorbs the oxygen out of steam.  The ferrite is then heated by sunlight to drive off the oxygen prior to the next cycle. The remaining hydrogen is pumped out and compressed for use.  The ferrite is heated and cooled in a  regenerative cycle using counter currently rotating rings containing the ferrite.

The process is in fairly early stages of development and will require much work before it could be used in a practical system.  One of the tasks that is complete is development of a ferrite material consisting of  ferrite mixed with  zirconia that has the right color and properties to be used as the absorbent. Rich said "We had to come up with a material that was black and absorbed heat from the sun and which had the right reaction oxidation reaction."

The next step is building a prototype of the system.

The following description from the Sandia Announcement explains the process in detail:

ECD Ovonics to Expand Manufacturing Capacity to 300MW/yr by 2010

PV solar production capacity keeps increasing, especially in the thin-film versions, as indicated by yet another announcement.

Rochester Hills, Mich., Feb. 16, 2006 — Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD Ovonics) (NASDAQ:ENER) announced today that the plans to expand its solar module manufacturing capacity to 300 megawatts by 2010.

The first phase of the expansion plan will include the construction of a third manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 50 megawatts, which is expected to be operational in calendar year 2007. United Solar Ovonic currently manufactures solar modules at a 25-megawatt production facility in Auburn Hills, Mich., and is currently constructing a second 25-megawatt production facility also located in Auburn Hills.

Axion to Begin Production of e3 Batteries

Axion Battery, a subsidiary of Axion Power announced that it has purchased a battery plant in which it will produce both conventional lead-acid batteries and its new e³ Supercell batteries, a new generation of rechargeable batteries that are part lead-acid battery and part super capacitor.

Axion Power International, Inc. (OTCBB:AXPW) announced today that it has purchased battery fabrication equipment, parts inventories and trademarks from National City Bank of Pennsylvania in a UCC sale. The purchased assets include three battery fabrication lines with a combined capacity of 750,000 batteries per year .... and the "TurboStart" racing battery trademark.  Concurrently, Axion announced the execution of a lease on the 63,000 square foot manufacturing plant where the equipment is installed. ....

Axion plans to begin production of TurboStart racing batteries and specialty batteries for vintage automobiles within 30 days and realize its first revenue in the current quarter. In the second quarter, Axion expects to begin production of commercial prototype e³ Supercell batteries for demonstration projects. The first of several demonstration projects with alternative energy producers is scheduled for the summer of 2006. ....

Axion has developed and is preparing to introduce a new generation of rechargeable batteries that are part lead-acid battery and part super capacitor. Axion calls these batteries "e³ Supercells." Where conventional lead-acid batteries use lead-based electrodes for both the positive and negative poles, e³ Supercells use lead-based electrodes for the positive pole and negative electrodes from advanced carbon super capacitors for the negative pole. e³ Supercell batteries use 70% less lead and offer longer cycle life; higher power; faster recharge rates; and no maintenance. In addition, e³ Supercell batteries are less likely to fail prematurely or be damaged by overcharging or other improper use. Axion believes its e3 Supercell technology represents the first major advance in lead-acid battery technology in 30 years. Axion is implementing a platform technology business model, where it will manufacture electrode assemblies for sale to established battery manufacturers that want to offer a high-performance co-branded product.

EIA Releases AEO2006

The EIA Annual Energy Outlook is an annual report that is a necessary reference for those with a interest in energy topics. Their press release announcing the release of the newest version follows:

The Energy Information Administration today released the "Annual Energy Outlook 2006" ("AEO2006") full report on its website.  In preparing projections for the "AEO2006," EIA evaluated a wide range of trends and issues that could have major implications for U.S. energy markets between now and 2030.

MIT Researchers Propose Ultracapacitors Using Nanotubes

Researchers at the MIT Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electric Systems (LEES) are working on an ultracapacitor that uses vertically aligned, single-wall carbon nanotubes as the electrode in an ultracapacitor.  They claim that their ultracapacitor "holds out the promise of the first technologically significant and economically viable alternative to conventional batteries in more than 200 years."

However, despite their inherent advantages -- a 10-year-plus lifetime, indifference to temperature change, high immunity to shock and vibration and high charging and discharging efficiency -- physical constraints on electrode surface area and spacing have limited ultracapacitors to an energy storage capacity around 25 times less than a similarly sized lithium-ion battery. ....

Storage capacity in an ultracapacitor is proportional to the surface area of the electrodes. Today's ultracapacitors use electrodes made of activated carbon, which is extremely porous and therefore has a very large surface area. However, the pores in the carbon are irregular in size and shape, which reduces efficiency. The nanotubes replace the activated carbon that is typically used as the electrode in ultracapacitors.  The vertically aligned nanotubes in the LEES ultracapacitor are one thirty-thousandth the diameter of a human hair and 100,000 times as long as they are wide, only several atomic diameters in width, and have a regular shape. The result is a significantly more effective surface area, which equates to significantly increased storage capacity. ....

Titania Nanotubes for Solar Cells

It was reported in January that Penn State researchers were finding ways to utilize solar energy using highly-ordered arrays of titania (an oxide of titanium) nanotubes for hydrogen production and increased solar cell efficiency of dye solar cells. 

Professor Craig Grimes and his colleagues have discovered that highly ordered nanotube arrays demonstrate remarkable properties when used on the negative electrode in dye solar cells.  Their results suggest that the efficiency of these dye solar cells could be increased simply by increasing the length of the nanotube arrays. They also discovered that when water is put on top of titania and exposed to sunlight, the water is turned into hydrogen and oxygen offering a way to produce hydrogen directly from sunlight. With nanotube arrays, under UV illumination they have a photoconversion efficiency of 13.1% while making hydrogen.

A recent announcement has revealed further information on the details of their discoveries.

U Wisconsin Student Wins First Prze with Unique Solar Collector

At the University of Wisconsin, an inexpensive, modular solar-energy technology that could be used to heat water and generate electricity won $12,500 and took first place in both the Schoofs Prize for Creativity and Tong Prototype Prize competitions.

In a package about the size of a small computer desk, the winning system uses a flat Fresnel lens to collect the sun's energy and focus it onto a copper block. Then a unique spray system removes the energy from the copper block and converts it into steam, says inventor Angie Franzke, an engineering mechanics and astronautics senior from Omro, Wisconsin. The steam either heats water for household use or powers a turbine to generate electricity.

I'm glad to see that renewable energy is getting some attention at my alma matter, Angie hopes to refine her invention in graduate school.

Resource: Concentrating solar collector ears first place increativity, prototype competition, University of Wisconsin College of Engineering, Headlines 2006

Technorati tags: solar, solar power, energy, technology

BP Planning Power Plant That Would Sequester Carbon Dioxide

BP and Edison Mission Group (EMG) announced on February 10 that they are planning to build a $1 billion, hydrogen fueled, 500 MW power plant that would sequester the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced by the plant.

Petroleum coke would be gasified into a stream of hydrogen and CO2; about 90% of the CO2 would be captured for sequestration.  After a clean-up process to remove pollutants and other impurities, the hydrogen stream would be used to fuel gas turbines to generate electricity. The turbine generators would produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions. The captured CO2 would be compressed and transported by pipeline to an oilfield where it would be injected thousands of feet underground into the oil field, both enhancing oil production and permanently trapping the CO2.

A123Systems Lithium Batteries Move closer to Production

A123Systems and Bak Battery (OTC Bulletin Board: CBBT - News) have announced that they had signed a manufacturing agreement for Bak to produce A123's patented Nano-Phosphate Lithium Ion batteries based on patented nanotechnology licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (previous post).  A123Systems has developed a new generation of Lithium-ion batteries, that will deliver up to 10X longer life, 5X power gains, twice the power density and dramatically faster charge time as compared to conventional lithium technology

The press release said that Bak has started production of batteries for power tools as they previously announced they would, but it did not specifically state that were ready to produce batteries for the hybrid vehicle market as indicated by this statement:

We ... established volume production capability for lithium polymer battery cells, constructed a production line for a new 'high power' battery cell initially directed towards the cordless power tool market and other applications while beginning the implementation of a high volume lap top computer battery cell manufacturing line.

We are getting closer to having advanced lithium-ion batteries for cars, but not quite there as I see it.  We will have to wait for their announcement that they have started production of car batteries, which should enable the start of a revolution in propulsion of cars.

China Bak Battery Announce Strategic Cooperative Agreement with Lenova and manufacturing agreement with A123 Systems, Press release, February 9, 2006

A123Systems, Watertown, MA USA

Technorati tags: batteries, lithium-ion batteries, energy, technology

IAUS Inks Deal for Low Cost Thermal Collector Solar Plant

International Automated Systems, Inc. [OTCBB : IAUS] has signed a $150,000,000.00 Purchase and Installation Contract to install a turnkey 100 megawatt power plant for Solar Renewable Energy-1 LLC of Nevada.

The Nevada installation will showcase IAUS™'s solar collector lenses which generate steam to its patented turbines for solar thermal generated power.  Low-cost energy produced by IAUS™'s new solar technology can be used to generate electricity or produce clean fuels such as hydrogen and green methanol (gasoline replacements) at a competitive price. IAUS™'s unique thin-film solar panels can be produced at a fraction of the cost of today's photovoltaic solar panels.

Sounds like a big break for IAUS whose technology has not been around for a long time. See earlier post for descriion of their collector design and web site for very brief description of turbine. $1,500/kW seems like a record low price for solar energy.

International Automated Systems, Salem, UT

More blogs about solar, solar power, alternative energy, renewable, renewable energy, energy

AFS Trinity to Develop Plug-In Drive Train

Another company, AFS Trinity, is entering the plug-in hybrid race. Quoting from their press release:

An Extreme Hybrid(TM) car -- which plugs into house current from the power grid for most of its power and is expected to give the average driver more than 250 miles per gallon of gasoline -- moved closer to reality according to news from AFS Trinity Power Corporation and the leading global automotive engineering firm, Ricardo. ....

Bush Proposes Reprossing Nuclear Fuel

In the budget proposal President Bush has proposed restarting research on reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.  Reprocessing work was stopped by President Carter in the 1970's.

The administration claims that rather than using old technology, a new technology, in which the plutonium would remain bound with other highly radioactive materials would be used, making it more difficult to use in weapons, thus reducing security concerns. The recycling plan would reduce the amount of nuclear waste at US nuclear power plants and encourage the building of more reactors to expand domestic electricity supplies. The amount of commercial spent nuclear fuel destined for disposal at the Yucca Mountain storage site near Las Vegas would be reduced by 80 percent under the proposed program.

A very controversial proposal, although some way of reducing the nuclear waste that will result from building of new nuclear power plants, which seems inevitable at this time, is necessary,   One report said that the waste would have a shorter half life than current waste.  Other reports indicated that the reprocessed waste would be more radioactive than normal nuclear fuel and would require 'fast reactors' to use it.  What do you think?

Culled from various news sources including; Bush requests money for Yucca Mountain, reprocessing in budget, Las Vegas Sun, Feb. 6, 2006

Technorati tags: nuclear, nuclear waste, energy, technology

Largest Solar PV Project for Nevada

For those of you who are wondering when photovoltaics would become competitive with grid power this announcement may answer your question.  As noted at the end this deal is not available for residential installations.

Powered by Renewables (PBR) of Nevada, announced today it will partner with SunEdison to develop the world's largest solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Nevada. The 18 megawatt (MW) project almost doubles what is currently the world's largest PV project (10MW) located in Germany.

PBR and SunEdison will develop a total of 36 MWs of PV projects in Nevada, enough energy to power 36,000 homes. Construction in Clark County is expected to begin in July and at other sites in early 2007.

The proposed project will be privately owned and operated. The military intends to purchase electricity from the project.

PBR's mission is to utilize renewable resources to provide clean, renewable energy to utilities, rural electric cooperatives, municipalities, communities and commercial customers.

SunEdison pays for, installs, owns and operates solar installations. Customers pay a fixed rate that is at or below current electricity prices for the solar electricity generated from these panels for ten years. SunEdison does not finance residential installations at this time.

Resources:

World's Largest Solar PV Project to be Built in Nevada, Press release, Feb 6, 2006
Powered by Renewables, Las Vegas, Nevada 
Sun Edison, Baltimore, MD

Technorati tags: solar, solar power, energy, technology

Large Coal Fired Complex Announced

This announcement confirms that we have not seen the end of large coal fired generation plants. Also note that they say that the complex will be expanded with two gasification units when that technology becomes commercially viable.  With ten other companies having announced that they were planning on building gasification units, at least one scheduled to be completed by 2010, they seem to be taking a very conservative stance.  And some have thought that we have not seen the end of increased demands for electricity--2,500 MW when complete.

Sierra Pacific Resources announced that it planned to move forward with the development of a 1500 MW coal-fired power complex in White Pine County, located in eastern Nevada and an approximately 250-mile transmission line linking the northern and southern parts of the state.

The power facility, which would be the largest energy development project in the state since Hoover Dam, will serve customers of Sierra Pacific Power Company and Nevada Power Company in northern and southern Nevada, respectively. It initially calls for two 750 MW units utilizing the latest, state-of-the-art, and fully environmental compliant, clean pulverized coal technologies. The plans also provide for expansion with two 500 MW coal gasification units when the technology becomes commercially viable. The company said the facility's initial 750 MW operating unit is expected to become operational during 2011 with the second unit coming on stream within the following three years.

Technorati tags: coal, electric generation, energy, technology

A123 Raises Additional $30 Million

A123Systems, see previous post, developer of a new generation of Lithium-ion batteries, today announced it has completed its third round of private equity funding totaling $30 million.  This brings the total amount of funding to an extraordinary $62 million since the company was founded in 2001.

A123Systems will use its new capital infusion to increase manufacturing capacity, to continue support for its current customer base and revenue growth, to accelerate the development of batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and to continue development of products for other markets demanding improved power technology.

Announced in November of last year, A123Systems’ battery technology is claimed to deliver up to 10X longer cycle life, 5X power gains and dramatically faster charge time over conventional high power battery technology as validated by independent testing at commercial and government research labs.

Battery technology is one of the hottest areas these days with many companies making news. The list of companies developing lithium-ion batteries is long, but the companies that I am aware of includes Altair, Electrova, Johnson Controls, Hitachi, NEC, Saft, Sanyo Electric and Valance.  Most expect the lithium-ion battery to replace the NiMH battery that is currently used in hybrid vehicles.  Firefly, a start-up spin-off from Caterpillar, with a greatly improved lead-acid battery is also a contender.  EEStor, a startup ultracapacitor, that could be used in place of a battery, has a product that will be vying for its place in the market.

Technorati tags: batteries, energy, technology

Hydrogenics Hydrogen Generation Compliments Wind Power

Using wind power to make hydrogen is a technology that has been promoted to mitigate the intermittency of wind power generation for some time.  Canadian Hydrogenics (TSX:HYG.TO; NASDAQ:HYGS) announced that it has sold its fourth hydrogen station that is powered by wind energy. The following selling points are claimed: 

• The cleanest way to make hydrogen is to use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen
• The cleanest and most sustainable source of electricity is from renewable energy sources such as wind power....wind-hydrogen
• Reduced dependence on imported energy
• No effect on climate
• Hydrogen generation from wind power, and its subsequents use, produces zero emissions
• Wind offers low-cost renewable energy
• Wind is and intermittent energy source - hydrogen is a way to 'store' wind-generated electricity
• Hydrogen provides a means to match wind supply and energy demand
• Equipment is quiet and has low visual impact

Zero-Air Emission Power Plants

ThermoEnergy Corporation (OTCBB:TMEN - News) has received a $310,000 DOE funded project to develop compact zero air emission power plants for medium to heavy industry. Commonly referred to as Combined Heat & Power (CHP) plants, these systems would allow main-stream industries to switch from natural gas to lower priced alternative fuels to supply their energy needs while reducing emissions and capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂).  Switching fuel sources could allow companies to save hundreds of millions of dollars in energy costs, keep their US based plants operating, and lessen dependence on imported energy resources.

These plants will be based on ThermoEnergy's advanced patented zero air emission power plant design known as ThermoEnergy Integrated Power Systems (TIPS). TIPS eliminates the atmospheric emissions of NOx, SOx, mercury, and particulates from power plants that run on coal, oil, natural gas or biomass. In addition, TIPS captures and recovers CO₂ in pressurized liquid form for sequestration or beneficial reuse.

Currently, most heavy industry in the US relies on fossil fuel, in the form of natural gas, to supply its energy needs - a commodity that has gone up almost 600% in the past five years. A significant percentage of these facilities are situated in 'Non Attainment' areas; areas where the local air quality does not meet minimum US EPA clean air standards. In order to change fuel sources, the new source must be as clean as or cleaner than natural gas. Currently no conventional power plant design in the 50Mw to 100Mw range will allow them to make such a switch.

Switchgrass

The president raised the point that switchgrass might be in our future as a source for cellulosic ethanol.  There were also some questions raised on my previous fortuitous post "New Ethanol Study". Most of this post is a combination of direct quotes from the two resources listed at the end.

Switchgrass is a native of North America where it occurs naturally from 55º N latitude to deep into Mexico, mostly as a prairie grass. In North America it has long been used for soil conservation and as a fodder crop. Both in America and Europe it can be found as an ornamental plant. The grass is also found in South America and Africa where it is used as a forage crop. Switchgrass is a perennial C4 grass propagated by seed that can be established at low cost and risk and requires very low inputs while giving high biomass yields even on marginal soils. Since the early 1990s the crop has been developed as a model herbaceous energy crop for ethanol and electricity production in the USA and in Canada and it is also being considered as a paper pulp production feedstock.

First, a distinction: switchgrass and your suburban lawn grasses—bluegrass and zoysia grass— are about as similar as a shopping-mall ficus and an old-growth redwood. Switchgrass is big and it's tough—after a good growing season, it can stand 10 feet high, with stems as thick and strong as hardwood pencils.

But what makes switchgrass bad for barefoot lawns makes it ideal for energy crops: It grows fast, capturing lots of solar energy and turning it into lots of chemical energy— cellulose—that can be liquified, gasified, or burned directly. It also reaches deep into the soil for water, and uses the water it finds very efficiently. And because it spent millions of years evolving to thrive in climates and growing conditions spanning much of the nation, switchgrass is remarkably adaptable.

Westinghouse AP1000 Nuclear Power Plant Design Approved

On January 31st, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published the final design certification rule for Westinghouse Electric Corporation's "advanced passive" reactor design, the AP1000. The rule certifying the AP1000 design will become effective on February 27th, allowing utilities to reference the design in their applications to build new nuclear plants. 1000 MWe (nominal) reactor.  This reactor incorporates the incorporates the following features:

• Passive reactor core cooling system
• Modular construction to reduce costs and delivery time
• Major reduction in safety related pumps, valves, piping and electrical components
• Direct duplication of many components from existing power plants
• 60 year operating life

The AP1000 is based on proven pressurized water reactor technology.  Its power train in identical in basic design to conventionally design pressurized water reactors, but with many detailed improvements coming from the extensively operational experience gained worldwide on this system. 

A key and innovative feature of the AP1000 safety systems is the utilization of passive cooling using gravity, natural circulation, convection, evaporation and condensation rather than depending on AC power supplies and motor-driven components.  These features assure that the cooling water level will not fall below the top of the core in the event of a severe accident and that no operator action is needed in such emergency conditions for three days.  The natural (or passive) emergency cooling systems also have effected a major simplification in the plant by the elimination of the power driven pumps and their associated lines, valves and controls in the emergency cooling system.

Daystar Announces Schedule to Become Gigawatt Producer of Solar Cells

Daystar Technologies announced plans to establish a profitable manufacturing platform, expandable to Gigawatt scale (1,000 MW), by 2008. They said that they are positioned to become the premier low-cost, high-volume producer of solar-electric photovoltaic (PV) cells in the world.  The announcement states that the company will accomplish this by being the first to successfully implement a proprietary, high-throughput, manufacturing methodology for the production of Si-free, Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS)-based solar cells, thus enabling PV to compete with traditional power generation in the growing global electricity marketplace. They claimed that their products are lighter, more robust, and have comparable performance to the current industry standard, crystalline Silicon (Si) solar cells.

The following is taken directly from their announcement:

The annual worldwide market for PV products currently stands at $7.4 billion and is projected to grow to $27.5 billion by 2012 and the worldwide demand for electricity is growing rapidly, resulting in a projected 75-400% increase by the year 2020. The PV market has had an average growth of 30% over the last five years.  Projected future growth of at least 25%+ per annum is expected over the next ten years. 

New Ethanol Study

A new report by UC Berkley analyzes six studies of the energy efficiency of ethanol, adjusted all of the studies to consistent system boundaries for comparison and based on the current state of ethanol production recalculated the values for corn ethanol and used a "realistic scenario" conditions to calculate the energy to produce cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass. The study found that the net energy ratio (energy out/energy in) is 1.2 for ethanol produced from corn and 8.3 for cellulosic ethanol produced from switchgrass. The net energy value (energy out-energy in) was calculated to be 4.5 MJ/liter for corn ethanol and 22.8 MJ/liter for cellulosic ethanol.  In terms of environmental impact corn ethanol decreases greenhouse gases only 14% when compared to gasoline, while cellulosic ethanol has a much greater reduction of 88% . They also pointed out, as have others, that it takes less energy to produce ethanol than it does to produce gasoline.

The abstract from the report also states some of their other important findings.

To study the potential effects of increased biofuel use, we evaluated six representative analysis of fuel ethanol.  Studies that reported negative net energy incorrectly ignored coproducts and use some obsolete data.  All studies indicated that current corn ethanol technologies are much less petroleum-intensive than gasoline but have greenhouse gas emissions similar to those of gasoline.  However many important environmental effects of biofuel production are poorly understood.  New metrics that measure specific resource inputs are developed, but further research into environmental metrics is needed.  Nonetheless, it is already clear that the large-scale use of ethanol for fuel will almost certainly require cellulosic technology.

The reports that they found erroneous were one by Patzek and and one by Pimental and Patzek.

First of all I hope this report, by an independent organization, will once and for all put to rest the controversy as to whether the net energy value is positive or negative. My support of ethanol for fuel is reinforced by this report.  I see some disruptive times in switching from corn ethanol to cellulosic ethanol which is required to both conserve energy and to produce enough ethanol without compromising our food supplies.  It is also true that it is more efficient to burn the feedstock in a CHP (combined heat and power) generator and use the electricity to power EV's and plug-ins.  This possibly presents another difficult transition in that, at the present time and for the next 15-25 years, our vehicle fleet will be primarily dependent on liquid fuels and we will need all the ethanol we can produce in order to help keep the price of fuels under control.  Our ethanol production capacity is rapidly ramping up to help meet this need and possibly could supply 20% of our liquid fuels by 2020.  By that time gasoline will no doubt cost over $5.00 per gallon compared to less that $3.00 (more likely $2.25) per gallon for ethanol (in 2005 dollars).  Cellulosic Ethanol as being developed by Colusa, Iogen, and Xethanol, or alternately the BRI process should be in commercial use by 2010. Whether to use biomass to make vehicle fuel or for CHP fuel will be the question after 2020-25.  There is also the possibility that by this time the gasification/Fischer-Tropsh processes (BTL) such as the Shell/Choren process will be used to produce both electricity and fuel.  At this time it is not clear to me how this will shake out and I will return to the subject later in the year.  I am sure the Engineer Poet will have a comment at this time.

The paper which was published in Science and the spreadsheet model used to develop the data as well as links to the six studies that were compared are found here: ERG Biofuel Analysis Meta-Model

Green Car Congress and After Gutenberg have also had posts on this report, with emphasis on other aspects of the report which you may want to visit.

Recent Berkley Study: Corn Ethanol is Better Than Gasoline, But Not by A Lot, Green Car Congress, Jan. 26, 2006
UC Berkley Study Boosts Cellulosic Ethanol, After Gutenberg, Jan. 26. 2006

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