The Energy Blog

Fuel Tech Receives Orders for $3.5 Million

Fuel Tech (NASDAQ: FTEK), a leader in the optimization of combustion systems in utility and industrial applications, today announced multiple air pollution control orders totaling $3.5 million.

In the United States, new business was secured from several customers, including three major electric utilities:

1. a Southeastern alliance partner for which NOxOUT® Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) equipment is to be installed on a small coal-fired boiler. 
2. a Midwestern alliance partner for which NOxOUT SNCR equipment is to be installed on two small coal-fired boilers.
3. a Southwestern power generator, which has placed orders for a NOxOUT demonstration on a large lignite-fired boiler and for mapping and modeling on several other such boilers.

Overseas, an order was received in northern Italy for a NOxOUT installation on a municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerator.

City of Richmond, CA Gets Three Zap Trucks

The City of Richmond and Bay Area electric car distributor ZAP (OTC BB: ZAAP.OB) are launching a pilot fleet program to demonstrate ZAP electric trucks in a city fleet, the first fleet in the country to incorporate all-electric city-trucks. These trucks will be used on the historic Bay Trail restoration project with the City's Public Works department.

"As the first fleet in the country to incorporate all-electric city-trucks we are proud to promote zero emissions vehicles," said Richmond Mayor McLaughlin. "We're signaling a direction. Our legacy for the young people of Richmond is lower green house gas emissions, cleaner air, less pollution and a greater commitment to make Richmond vibrant and sustainable."

Solar Installations up 33% in US in 2006, 41% in World, Solar Capacity only Utilized 62%

In an update on the solar industry Solarbuzz reports that the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) devices in the United States increased by about 33 percent in 2006 over the previous year. Worldwide PV installations totaled 1,744 megawatts (MW) in 2006, a new record and a growth of 19 percent over 2005. The United States contributed just 8 percent of those installations, or about 140 MW, while Germany led the world market with 960 MW of PV installations, comprising 55 percent of the world's total PV installations for 2006. To supply that market, the global production of solar cells reached 2,204 MW in 2006, a growth of 33 percent over PV production in 2005, while the production of polysilicon a critical ingredient for silicon solar cells increased by 16 percent.

The Photovoltaic Service Program at Navigant Consulting has published a “Pre-Release” of its quarterly PV industry newsletter, Solar Outlook. The feature article in the release is an analysis of 2006 PV technology shipments. The PV industry grew by 41%, the same rate as the CAGR from 2000 to 2006. In 2005, thin film technologies were 6% of total shipments. Thin films increased their share of total to 7% in 2006, and are on track to increase by another percentage point, to 8% in 2007. Many more facts are included in the referenced pdf.

Notice that the Solarbuzz numbers are for global production, while the Navigant numbers are for shipments, perhaps explaining the difference in numbers or it may simply be a matter of discrepencies in data collection.

TOP TEN SOLAR MANUFACTURERS

RANKING	2004	2005	2006
1	Sharp Solar	Sharp Solar	Sharp Solar, 22%
2	Kyocera	Kyocera	Q-Cells, 12%
3	BP Solar	Q-Cells	Kyocera, 9%
4	Shell Solar	Shott Solar	Suntech, 8%
5	Q-Cells	BP Solar	Sanyo, 6%
6	Shott Solar	Mitsubishi Electric	Mitsubishi Electric, 6%
7	Sanyo	Sanyo	Shott Solar, 5%
8	Mitsubishi Electric	Shell Solar	Motech, 5%
9	Isofoton	Motech	BP Solar, 4%
10	Motech	Isofoton	SunPower, 3%
Total Shipments	1049.8	1407.7	1982.4

Super-Fermenting Fungus Genome Sequenced

DOE's Joint Genome Institute (JGI) achieved a key milestone to understanding fermentative organisms by sequencing the genome for the fungus Pichia stipitis. The fungus is proficient at fermenting xylose, one of the main sugars in cellulosic biomass. The research performed in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Product Laboratory (FPL) identified numerous genes in the fungus that allow it to break down cellulose and ferment the xylose. The researchers also analyzed the metabolic pathways associated with those genes.

P. stipitis is the most proficient microbial fermenter in nature of the five-carbon "wood sugar" xylose--abundant in hardwoods and agricultural leftovers, which represent a motherlode of bioenergy fodder.

"The information embedded in the genome sequence of Pichia has helped us identify several gene targets to improve xylose metabolism," said Thomas W. Jeffries of the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. "We are now engineering these genes to increase ethanol production." Jeffries said that yeast strains like Pichia have evolved to cope with the oxygen-limited environment rich in partially digested wood that is encountered in the gut of insects, from where the sequenced strain was originally isolated.

FPL has a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) in place with a New York City-based bioenergy company, Xethanol Corporation, which plans to integrate Dr. Jeffries' findings into its large-scale biofuels production processes.

11 MW PV Solar Tracking Plant Dedicated

GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), PowerLight, a subsidiary of SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) and Catavento dedicated the 11-megawatt Serpa solar power plant on March 28, on schedule.

GE Energy Financial Services financed and purchased the project in an approximately US $75 million transaction last year. PowerLight designed, deployed, operates and maintains the plant. The plant uses PowerLight's PowerTracker(R) system that follows the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems. Catavento did the project development, permitting and manages the project, which began feeding Portugal's electricity grid in late January.

$23 Million to Develop Fermentation Organisms

Five projects will receive $23 million over the next four years from DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), to develop highly efficient fermentative organisms that convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol.

Organisms that can ferment these cellulosic biomass materials into ethanol are crucial to the success of commercial-scale integrated biorefineries and cellulosic ethanol refining. Such organisms must be able to survive a wide range of environmental conditions while resisting mutations that would hinder their effectiveness.

Cargill Incorporated, Celunol Corporation, DuPont, Mascoma Corporation, and Purdue University were selected for the five projects. Combined with the industry cost share, more than $37 million could be invested in these projects.

These contracts are part of EERE's Biofuels Initiative (BFI), which has the goal of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil by meeting the following targets:

• To make cellulosic ethanol (or ethanol from non-grain biomass resources) cost competitive with gasoline by 2012.
• To replace 30 percent of current levels of gasoline consumption with biofuels by 2030 (or 30x30).

How Should We Approach Saving the Environment?

An interesting commentary on environmentalism appeared today on Eco World discussing the differences between supply side and demand side environmentalism.

At a time like this, where the momentum to do anything to achieve energy independence dovetails fitfully with the momentum to do anything to reduce CO2 emissions, policymakers pressured by environmentalists may enact sweeping legislation that could completely change our way of life. But there are two ways environmentalists can go to pursue their core values in the 21st century, and they represent very, very different choices. One of the most fundamental areas where these two choices diverge concerns energy and water policy.

A “supply side” environmentalist - for lack of a better term - would argue that the priority should be to achieve energy and water abundance. To do this, for example, they would advocate construction of nuclear powered desalinization plants, as well as pumping stations and aqueducts. They would advocate increased production of fresh water from seawater, and they would advocate distributing this water to restore every depleted aquifer on earth.

A “demand side” environmentalist, by contrast, would argue that conservation of energy and water is the only approach that could possibly make sense. They would argue that it isn’t possible to produce enough energy for everyone at current levels of consumption. They would fight for energy and water rationing, with punitive fines and even criminal penalties for overuse of these resources.

Read the whole article and express your opinions.

VRB Power Systems VRB-ESS for Sorne Hill "Has a Strong Economic Case"

VRB Power Systems (TSX-V: VRB) announced that the Vanadium Redox Battery Energy Storage System (VRB-ESS™) being sold to Tapbury Management Limited (“Tapbury”), previous post, for Phase II of the Sorne Hill Wind Farm in County Donegal, Ireland (“Sorne Hill”) has been increased in size from a 1.5MW x 8hr system to a 2MW x 6hr system.

The value of this contract to VRB Power has increased from US$6.3 million to approximately US$9.4 million. The agreement remains subject to execution of final contracts between Tapbury and VRB Power.

The re-sizing of this system follows completion of the independent feasibility study, by Grant Thorton, on the implementation of the VRB-ESS at Sorne Hill jointly commissioned by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and Tapbury. This study validates a number of the key revenue streams that will be generated by the VRB-ESS. It also concludes that the optimum size of the system is 2MW of power with 6 hours of storage and the ability to provide 3MW of pulse power for 10 minute periods every hour in order to deal with short term volatility in wind generation.

“We are delighted with the findings of this study,” stated John Ward, Director of Tapbury. “The report provides technical and economic validation for a number of the key revenue streams that we had previously identified for the planned implementation of the VRB-ESS at Sorne Hill. The increase in the size of the system enables us to maximize these revenue streams and, when combined with additional market based payments, shown in the Grant Thornton report included in the study, provides a strong economic case for this purchase. In particular, the study demonstrates the potential for purchasers of VRB Energy Storage Systems in the Irish market to achieve a very healthy IRR of 17.5% on their investment.”

Dispatchable Wind turbine System

Attleboro, MA - General Compression, Inc., the pioneer of dispatchable wind power, has successfully closed an initial round of funding for over $5,000,000. These funds will be used to accelerate the development of General Compression's revolutionary dispatchable wind technology.

The company focuses on collecting energy from the wind as compressed air, storing the compressed air in pipes and underground geologic features, and expanding the air on demand to make electricity. The company anticipates that this technology will lead to a dispatchable wind energy platform that will offer utility scale energy parks creating wind energy on demand at competitive prices.

Dispatchable wind energy can be sold when prices are high, and stored when prices are low.

Conventional turbines need to protect their generators from accepting too much energy. When the wind blows over 10 meters/second (m/s) most turbines feather their blades to begin shedding incoming wind energy. When wind speeds reach 15 m/s, most turbines stop accepting any new energy, and at 25-30m/s the machines shut down.

Their system is not limited in its output like a generator, and can accept much higher energy inputs and rotor speeds. In windy sites, this means that for the same foundation, tower, and blades, energy production can be substantially improved.

Israeli Discovery Converts Radioactive Waste into Safe Inert Vitrified "Rock" and Clean Energy

This post is adapted from an item in ISRAEL 21c that describes an Israeli discovery that converts dangerous radioactive waste into clean energy: 

The problem of radioactive waste is a global one, and getting increasingly worse. All countries in the industrialized world are waking up to the need for safer hazardous waste disposal methods.

An Israeli firm, Environmental Energy Resources (EER), has developed a reactor that converts radioactive, hazardous and municipal waste into inert byproducts; vitrified slag and clean energy.

Shown above, a chunk of black, lava-like rock that is the result of the PGM process invented by EER.

Using a system called plasma gasification melting technology (PGM) developed by scientists from Russia's Kurchatov Institute research center, the Radon Institute in Russia, and Israel's Technion Institute - EER combines high temperatures and low-radioactive energy to transform waste into vitrified slag and syngas which is used to make electricity.

"We go up to 7,000 degrees centigrade and end at 1,400 centigrade," says Moshe Stern, founder and president of the Ramat Gan-based company.

Is 2025 the Year for Fuel Cell Cars?

Reuters -- Hydrogen is being touted as an environmentally friendly fuel of the future, but the road to hydrogen-powered vehicles will not be easy, industry experts said at the National Hydrogen Association (NHA) Annual Hydrogen Conference this week.

BMW, Toyota, Honda, GM, DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen had hydrogen-powered vehicles on display at the conference, some costing up to a million dollars a piece and having limited range on a hydrogen fill-up.

Topics raised include the cost of the cars themselves, the cars' limited ranges, hydrogen storage and difficulties of establishing hydrogen refuelling stations.

BMW vice president of clean technology Frank Ochmann predicted that fuel cell-powered cars would be commonly sold and produced by 2025.

He also revealed that the German manufacturer was working on an insulated tank to keep hydrogen in its liquid state. He claimed: "If you put in this tank a snowman, it would take about thirteen years to melt down."

Venture Capitalist and Business Analyst Predict Rapid Expansion of Biofuels Industry, Dramatic Reductions in Carbon Emissions

Vinod Khosla, Jens Riese Deliver Keynotes at BIO’s World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing

Busness Wire News Release -- A top venture capitalist and a prominent biotechnology industry business consultant today both said that the biofuels industry is poised for exceptional growth and that ethanol from cellulose appears to be the most promising alternative fuel over the long-term. During keynote speeches at the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures and Dr. Jens Riese of McKinsey & Co. also highlighted the significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions achievable with ethanol from cellulose. The fourth annual World Congress runs March 21-24 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Fla.

In a speech titled “The Role of Venture Capital in Developing Cellulosic Ethanol,” Khosla outlined the range of technologies currently being commercialized to convert cellulosic biomass to transportation fuels. Khosla said that the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent grants to cooperatively fund biorefineries that produce ethanol from cellulose is an acknowledgment that the technology is moving faster than expected. He said that a 100 percent replacement of petroleum transportation fuels with biofuels is achievable, and predicted that ethanol from cellulose technology will be cost competitive with current ethanol production by 2009.

Novozymes Introduces Five-Step Strategy to Achieve Economically Viable Cellulosic Ethanol

At the 4^th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Orlando, Fla., Novozymes (Other OTC:NVZMY.PK) yesterday introduced a five-step strategy to achieve economically viable cellulosic ethanol.

“As the biotech-based world leader in enzymes and microorganisms, Novozymes understands how biotechnology can exponentially increase benefits to society,” said Per Falholt, Novozymes chief scientific officer. “Cellulosic ethanol fuel is poised to create a multidimensional positive impact on the world’s economy, resources, environment and political situation. Novozymes’ five-step strategy is designed to foster not only the scientific progress of cellulosic ethanol, but also the commercial viability of this critical energy source.”

The strategy comprises:

1. Continued funding of research and development (specifically in the areas of biomass conversion and the development of a commercial process technology).

2. Establishment of flexible configuration testing and development centers, geographically distributed to address multiple types of biomass feedstock and integrate processes (pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation).

Sandia helps develop new wind turbine blade design

A new wind turbine blade design that researchers at Sandia National Laboratories developed in partnership with Knight & Carver (K&C) of San Diego promises to be more efficient than current designs. It should significantly reduce the cost-of-energy (COE) of wind turbines at low-wind-speed sites.

Named "STAR" for Sweep Twist Adaptive Rotor, the blade is the first of its kind produced at a utility-grade size. Its most distinctive characteristic is a gently curved tip, termed "sweep," which unlike the vast majority of blades in current use, is specially designed for low-wind-speed regions like the Midwest. The sites targeted by this effort have annual average wind speeds of 5.8 meters per second, measured at 10-meter height. Such sites are abundant in the U.S. and would increase by 20-fold the available land area that can be economically developed for wind energy.

Proof load testing on the new blade using 55-gallon drums to test blade strength is shown above.

BP Solar Announces Two Mega Cell Plants

BP Solar today announced that it has begun constructing two mega cell plants, one at its European headquarters in Tres Cantos, Madrid and the second at its joint venture facility, Tata BP Solar, in Bangalore, India.

For phase 1 of the Madrid expansion, BP Solar is aiming to expand its annual cell capacity from 55 MW to around 300 MW. The Bangalore expansion could add another 300 MW to BP Solar's total capacity.

The new cell lines use state-of-the-art screen printing technology,much of it proprietary to BP Solar. By fully automating wafer handling,the lines will be able to handle the very thinnest of wafers available and ensuring the highest possible quality. 

"The announcement of the two mega cell plants cements BP Solar's commitment to maintain a market leadership position in PV" said Lee Edwards, BP Solar's CEO. "The new cell technologies we are using, our intellectual property in casting with Mono2 and the contracts we have signed to secure preferential access to metallurgical grade silicon are all important steps towards our goal of offering customers PV generated electricity on a par with the cost of conventional grid supplied electricity."

Air Products and Fuel Cell Energy Building Efficient Hydrogen Generating Station

Air Products (NYSE: APD), and FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM: FCEL), have commenced construction on an advanced hydrogen energy demonstration station designed to address industrial and transportation applications.  The station, funded in part by the United States Department of Energy (DOE), is to demonstrate a tri-generating green energy system capable of providing low-cost hydrogen, electric power and heat from one integrated unit.

The new system will combine FuelCell Energy’s Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants with Air Products’ advanced gas separation technologies.  The DFC system produces electric power and heat for cogeneration, as well as hydrogen for industrial applications and fuel cell vehicles.  The system is designed to produce more than 250 kilowatts (kW) of green power and over 135 kilograms (about 300 pounds) of hydrogen per day. The system could provide hydrogen for smaller industrial users who routinely purchase liquid or gaseous hydrogen that currently must be delivered by truck.  The DFC system could also be equipped to provide daily hydrogen fueling for approximately 35 fuel cell vehicles. 

The tri-generation system is designed to operate on renewable fuel sources, such as anaerobic digester gas from industrial or municipal wastewater treatment facilities, as well as readily available fuels, including natural gas and propane. The overall cost of on-site generation of hydrogen via this process has the potential to be significantly lower than other currently available production options, and thus could provide hydrogen and energy at decreased costs.

Bush seeks to scrap current ethanol standard

Reuters, March 20, 2007 -- The Bush administration has proposed scrapping the current U.S. renewable fuels standard that requires ethanol  ...

Under the legislative proposal sent to Congress on Monday, the new standard would require U.S. ethanol and alternative fuel consumption to reach 10 billion gallons in 2010.

The alternative fuels standard would then slowly rise through 2014, and ramp up the following three years to reach 35 billion gallons annually in 2017. ...

In addition to ethanol, alternative fuels under the bill would include biodiesel and motor fuel made from municipal solid waste, natural gas, hydrogen, coal-derived liquid fuels, electricity and other fuels to be determined by the Energy Department. ... more

The change in definition of renewable fuel requirements from only ethanol to the other listed fuels makes attainment of the 35 billion gallons annually goal by 2017 more achievable, as I have stated previously.  Combined with greater emphasis on PHEVs and BEVs our greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil can be greatly reduced. The coal liquids should be required to be produced from coal mined in an environmentally consious manner and the CTL process be required to sequester all emissions.

Cheaper, More Efficient Solar Cells

A new type of material could allow solar cells to harvest far more light.

According to StarSolar's website, the biggest problem facing solar power today is the high cost of solar electricity compared to conventional sources. StarSolar's patent-protected technology solves this problem by significantly increasing the efficiency of solar cells, which is the single biggest driver in solar cost reduction. These improvements are achieved through innovative light trapping technology that enhances infrared light absorption by a factor of seven, thus increasing overall power generation by 37%.

Technology Review, March 21, 2007 -- ... The effort uses a type of material called a photonic crystal that makes it possible to "do things with light that have never been done before," says John Joannopoulos, a professor of physics at MIT who heads the lab where the new designs for solar applications were developed. ...

But StarSolar needs to choose a large-scale manufacturing technique that will allow it to produce the photon crystals inexpensively. More

Surging corn prices tighten ethanol financing

As the main ingredient for ethanol rises to $4 per bushel and oil prices dip, many are concerned about an industry shake-out.

Reuters, March 21, 2007) -- Financing for ethanol plants has tightened as rising corn prices have made it tougher for producers to turn a profit and an industry shake-out could follow, according to sector bankers and executives.

The price of corn, the main ingredient of U.S. ethanol, has risen to $4 per bushel, making it more difficult for ethanol plants to turn a profit. At the same time, oil prices have fallen since peaking at more than $78 a barrel last summer, cutting into demand for a lower priced alternative. More

As far as I am concerned this is good news because the building of corn ethanol plants must be slowed.  We are fast approaching the limit of corn production without drastically limiting the amount available for food.  Cellulosic plants are not too far off and we will have to wait for them until rapid growth in the ethanol industry can resume.  Besides the energy efficiency of cellulosic plants is much better than for corn ethanol plants.

Canada to End Oil Sands Aid, Add Green-Car Rebates

Reuters via Planet Ark, March 21, 2007 - Canada's minority Conservative government, pressured to do more on the environment, will phase out some oil sands tax incentives, introduce rebates for hybrid vehicles, tax gas guzzlers and subsidize renewable fuels.

The provision allowing accelerated write-off of oil sands investments will be phased out gradually so projects that had counted on them can proceed.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a rebate of C$1,000-C$2,000 (US$850-$1,700) for purchases of new fuel-efficient vehicles.

The government is also slapping on a new "Green Levy", or gas-guzzler tax, of C$1,000-C$4,000 on the sale of new passenger vehicles that are not fuel-efficient.

Read more here

Global Warming Causes Losses in Food Production

Over a span of two decades, warming temperatures have caused annual losses of roughly $5 billion for major food crops, according to a new study by researchers at the Carnegie Institution and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

From 1981-2002, warming reduced the combined production of wheat, corn, and barley—cereal grains that form the foundation of much of the world’s diet—by 40 million metric tons per year. The study, which was published March 16 in the online journal Environmental Research Letters, demonstrates that this decline is due to human-caused increases in global temperatures.

"Most people tend to think of climate change as something that will impact the future,” said Christopher Field, co-author on the study and director of Carnegie’s Department of Global Ecology in Stanford, Calif. “But this study shows that warming over the past two decades has already had real effects on global food supply."

Continue reading here.

225 mpg XR-3 Plug-in Hybrid Kit

Robert Q. Riley Enterprises, LLC, in Glendale, Ariz., will introduce its XR-3 plug-in hybrid kit, a sleek two-passenger, three-wheel sports car that is expected to generate up to 225 miles per gallon and have a battery-only range of up to 40 miles, in June 2007.

Its clam-shell canopy and three-wheel platform boldly differentiates the XR-3 from conventional passenger cars. The vehicle’s hybrid power system, diesel engine, and low curb weight are the main ingredients of its super-high fuel economy and excellent performance. At just 1300 pounds, with acceleration equal to that of a conventional car and a maximum speed of 85 mph the XR-3 Hybrid is equally at home on freeways and surface streets.

Hydrogen injection could boost biofuel production

The "hybrid hydrogen-carbon process," or H2CAR has been proposed by engineers from Purdue University for the production of iquid fuels from biomass or coal. The process adds hydrogen from a "carbon-free" energy source, such as solar, wind or nuclear power, during gasification of the biomass, supressing the formation of carbon dioxide and increasing the efficiency of the process, making it possibe to produce three times the volume of biofuels rom the same quantity of same quantity of biomass. However, the new method hinges on having a cheap source of hydrogen – something which is not yet readily available.

When conventional methods are used to convert biomass or coal to liquid fuels, 60 percent to 70 percent of the carbon atoms in the starting materials are lost in the process as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, whereas no carbon atoms would be lost using H2CAR, said Rakesh Agrawal, Purdue's Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering.

"This waste is due to the fact that you are using energy contained in the biomass to drive the entire process," he said. "I'm saying, treat biomass predominantly as a supplier of carbon atoms, not as an energy source."

The process, which would make possible the dawning of a "hydrogen-carbon economy," is detailed in a research paper appearing online in the March 6 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

SolarMission Solar Tower Video

SolarMission Technologies (OTC: EVOMY.PK,  ASX: EVM.AX) and its Australian subsidiary, EnviroMission Limited produced this 5 minute video about its early pilot plant in Spain. It is an older video (2000) but gives a basic understanding of the solar tower concept. The designs have changed and technologies added, but it gives an introduction to the solar tower concept.

The power plant consists of a very large glazed solar collector with a chimney in the center through which the hot air generated in the collector rises.  The hot air wind drives turbo-generators located at the base of the chimney.  The floor of the collector absorbs heat during the daytime and release the heat during the night, so that the power is produced on a continuous basis.  Cold air enters the collector, with an upward sloping ceiling, from its outer perimeter, is heated and rises through the tower at 50 feet per second (15 meters per second)

Several other videos about Solar Missions Technologies are available at the same site. Their system is described in greater detail in this earlier posts here and here.

B&W Aquires Rights to CO2 Emissions Control Technology

In addition to its announcement with AEP to develop oxyfuel powerplants B&W, a unit of McDermott International, Inc.(NYSE: MDR), also announced on March 15 that it has signed an agreement with CO2 solutions (CDNX: CST.V) for the acquisition of a license option and a significant contribution to the costs of a joint technological development program.

CO2 Solutions has developed a bioreactor, containing packing that has an enzyme, extracted from genetically engineered E. coli,  attached to it, that can absorb CO2 and convert it into bicarbonate, which is an environmentally safe product that is use to capture CO2 from the exhaust from power plants and industrial facilities.

B&W will purchase an exclusive option to license to market, in North America, the technology developed by CO2 Solutions for use in coal combustion based electricity generating plant applications. To acquire this option, B&W is making an initial payment of $500,000 US upon signing the agreement, and will make a second payment of $500,000 US following the attainment of certain pre-determined milestones. Furthermore, as part of the agreement, B&W will take on the expenses involved in adapting this technology for a pilot project at a coal fired plant, which was announced last October. The agreement also foresees that in light of the results obtained, the two companies may undertake negotiations for a license grant.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), CO2 emissions from coal fired power generation in the United States were nearly 2 Billion tons in 2006, or approximately one-third of total U.S. emissions. These emissions were equivalent to CO2 emissions from the transportation sector, including automobiles. This analysis suggests that capture and storage of CO2 emissions from coal power plants is an important part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as a large market for companies producing equipment for mitigating these emissions.

Thanks to Tyler at Clean Break for the tip.

There seems to be a rash of news recently on technologies that control CO2 emissions. A sign that the world is waking up to the problem of global warming and by industry that the time has come that will allow them to make some money on this problem.

AEP Signs Two MOUs for Technologies to Reduce CO2 Emissions

American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) announced two significant memorandums of understanding (MOU) regarding technologies that would reduce CO2 emissions from coal powered electric power plants.

The first MOU is with Babcock and Wilcox Company, a unit of McDermott International, Inc.(NYSE: MDR) to pursue the viability of retrofitting power plants with oxy-coal combustion (oxycombustion) to existing power plants to reduce CO2 and other emissions. Under the terms of the MOU the companies will assess the application of oxy-coal combustion as a retrofit to an existing AEP plant, and work toward the development of the first oxy-coal commercial validation project in the United States.

The second MOU is with Alstom (Paris: ALS) to bring Alstom’s chilled ammonia process for CO2 capture to full commercial scale of up to 200 MW by 2011. The technology has the great advantage versus other technologies of being fully applicable not only for new power plants, but also for the retrofit of existing coal-fired power plants.

B&W Oxy-Coal Combustion

Oxy-coal combustion uses pure oxygen for the combustion of coal in electricity generating plants. In this system, nitrogen that comes in with the air for the combustion process is eliminated. As a result, the exhaust gas is a relatively pure stream of CO2 that is ready for capture and sequestration or alternate uses such as enhanced oil recovery. Use of this technology is expected to result in near-zero emissions from coal-fired electric-generating facilities. B&W has established a collaboration agreement with American Air Liquide, Inc. for the continued development of the technology.

Update on Saft-Johnson Controls Joint Venture

In The Energy Blogs efforts to keep up with all developmente regarding lithium batteries, the following was found in the Saft Groupe SA Reports Full Year 2006 Earnings report.

John Searle, Chairman of the Management Board, commented: "I am particularly encouraged by the progress made by JC-S, our hybrid vehicle joint venture, during its first year, which leaves this business well-positioned for future success."

In January 2006, Johnson Controls and Saft created Johnson Controls - Saft Advanced Power Solutions LLC ("JC-S"), a joint venture with the objective of becoming the leading Western supplier of batteries for Hybrid and Electric vehicles ("HEV's"). Saft's proven expertise in high-performance, advanced battery technologies complements the strengths of Johnson Controls in high-volume production capabilities and outstanding knowledge of the global car industry. ...

The joint venture has already announced the following successes since its creation:

• Award of a contract from the USABC consortium to accelerate development of li-ion batteries for HEV's
• Signature of a letter of intent with a major car manufacturer for 2 li-ion HEV programmes. As a result, JC-S is now building a manufacturing plant for li-ion batteries at Saft's RBS Nersac site
• Award of a contract by General Motors to develop li-ion batteries for a future plug-in hybrid version of the Saturn Vue SUV

In the light of these successes and other opportunities, the partners have agreed to increase the joint venture's budgeted capital expenditure and operating costs.

AMSC/Windtec to Develop 3MW and 5MW Wind Energy Systems with Sinova

American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Windtec™, has signed a multi-million-dollar wind energy system joint development contract to jointly develop 3 and 5 megawatt wind Energy systems with Sinovel Wind Corporation Limited. The order significantly expands Windtec’s business with Sinovel. Since 2005, Sinovel has ordered electrical components from Windtec for 785 wind energy systems rated at 1.5 megawatts (MW).

Based in Beijing, Sinovel plans to begin series production of 3 MW systems during 2009 and 5 MW systems the following year.

“AMSC’s Windtec business enabled Sinovel to quickly establish itself in the wind power market,” said Han Junliang, Chairman and President of Sinovel. “We believe the 3 and 5 MW systems we will jointly develop with Windtec will allow Sinovel to grow its market share and position us as a technology leader in the industry. We look forward to benefiting from our expanded relationship with Windtec as we continue to implement our plan to manufacture 500 wind energy systems in 2007, 800 in 2008 and reach an annual capacity of 1,000 wind energy systems in 2010.”

The Future of Coal

An interdisciplinary MIT faculty group examined the role of coal in a world where constraints on carbon dioxide emissions are adopted to mitigate global climate change. Their report, The Future of Coal, examines how the world can continue to use coal, an abundant and inexpensive fuel, in a way that mitigates, instead of worsens, the global warming crisis.

The report is extremely comprehensive and in my view very objective and should play an important role in determining government policy regarding coal fired power plants.

They are especially critical of the government picking a technology "winner." Although IGCC is the lowest cost solution at the present they contend that super critical pulverized coal plants or oxycombustion plants could be competitive and deserve more funding. They also conclude that a significant reduction of carbon emissions is possible only when a significant price is placed on CO2 emissions.

The remainder of this post is composed of excerpts of key parts of the report.

This report evaluates the technologies and costs associated with the generation of electricity from coal along with those associated with the capture and sequestration of the carbon dioxide produced coal-based power generation. Growing electricity demand in the U.S. and in the world will require increases in all generation options (renewables, coal, and nuclear) in addition to increased efficiency and conservation in its use. Coal is likely to remain an important source of energy in any conceivable future energy scenario.

The report concludes that carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is the critical enabling technology to help reduce CO2 emissions significantly while also allowing coal to meet the world's pressing energy needs.

According to Dr. Deutch, Institute Professor, Department of Chemistry "As the world's leading energy user and greenhouse gas emitter, the U.S. must take the lead in showing the world CCS can work. Demonstration of technical, economic, and institutional features of CCS at commercial scale coal combustion and conversion plants will give policymakers and the public confidence that a practical carbon mitigation control option exists, will reduce cost of CCS should carbon emission controls be adopted, and will maintain the low-cost coal option in an environmentally acceptable manner."

PG&E to Test Wave Power Technologies

PG&E To Study Wave Power In Humboldt & Mendocino
PG&E Press release, February 28, 2007

Pacific Gas and Electric Company took the first step towards developing generation projects that could convert the abundant wave energy off the coast of Mendocino and Humboldt Counties of California into electricity. Named "WaveConnect," the proposed developments would extend PG&E's environmental leadership by providing its customers with a new source of clean, renewable power. ...

The WaveConnect projects will begin with resource, environmental, and ocean use studies and if developed would use wave energy conversion (WEC) devices to transform the energy of ocean waves into clean, renewable electricity. This would be the first application in North America for a project that would allow multiple WEC device manufacturers to demonstrate their devices on a common site, which could help accelerate the development of wave energy technology. ...

PG&E, as the lead developer, will be responsible for the permitting of the sites and will encourage the participation of multiple WEC device manufacturers in the projects. ... Phased development of the sites would proceed if technical results support feasibility, environmental studies show that any significant impacts can be fully mitigated, and stakeholder considerations can be satisfactorily addressed.

PG&E intends to utilize the most effective technologies for the wave energy projects. If fully developed, the projects could each provide up to 40 megawatts of clean renewable electric supply.

Gasoline Prices Rising to New High Levels?

The chart below shows the average retail prices of gasoline over the last 5 years during the first 5 months of the year. Apparently an increase in seasonal demand during this period generally causes retail gasoline prices to increase during the first part of the year, but this year there may be some additional factors including:  1) Increased prices of crude due to cold weather arriving late and OPEC production cuts, 2) Demand is running high relative to seasonal norms, 3) Refinery maintenance and some unplanned refinery refinery outages have reduced gasoline production in recent weeks and 4) Gasoline imports have declined due to a higher demand in Europe.

At 255.9 cents per gallon as of March 12, 2007 prices are now 19.3 cents per gallon higher than at this time last year. In California prices are now at 306.8 cents per gallon, 53.6 cents per gallon above last year’s price.  How high will prices go this year?

Chart and comments adapted from This Week In Petroleum, March 14, 2007. See this reference for more detailed analysis.

AMAT to Install 1.9 MW of Solar Panels, the Largest Corporate Installation

Applied Materials, Inc.(NYSE: AMAT), announced today that it will install over 1.9 megawatts of solar power generation capability at its research campus in Sunnyvale, California. This is believed to be the largest solar power installation on an existing corporate facility in the United States and will be rolled out in three phases.

“When the project is complete we will have a silent, non-polluting 1.9 megawatt power plant on what is currently open roof space and parking areas, and a great hedge against future energy cost increases,” said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials. “As we pursue our strategy to significantly drive down the overall solar cost-per-watt we feel it is important to lead through example and that installations of this size will help lower consumer cost and spur overall market growth.”

Applied Materials will start installing panels later this year that use a variety of state of the art solar technologies. Once completed in 2008, Applied Materials’ system will generate over 2,330 megawatt hours annually – the equivalent of powering 1,400 homes.

This megawatt installation by a single company is certainly the way for all companies to go in the future. This is the ultimate example of distributed renewable power. Applied Materials has its own interests also, recently entering the market as a supplier of equipment to manufacture solar cells and solar panels that they believe will reduce the cost of this equipment through greater efficiency in production.

Oil Supply Analysis by Bill Butler

Bill Butler moderates The Suncor Energy and Canadian Oil Sands Resources Group on Yahoo. The group is primarily composed of members that probably should be classified as peak oilers, which I know will turn many of you off.  I hope you will read his analysis and take it for what its worth. This week he presented his analysis of our oil supply.  It is very simplistic, but probably as accurate as most of the more analytical studies. There certainly will be projects added and perhaps a few not included in the database, but it takes an average 7 years from the announcement of a project until it is brought online. Oil companies are becoming more active in exploration, but that also takes a lot of time. It certainly should give you pause for thought.

Chris Skrebowski's Megaprojects report (and here), a tabulation of new oil production projects includes everything from 40,000 bbl/day on up. ...

The 3.5 to 5 million bbl/day per year of new oil production coming online sounds encouraging until you take depletion of old fields into account. For the purpose of the following calculations we will assume that everything goes according to Skrebowski's tables - everything comes online on time, there will be no hurricanes, no political/military problems, etc. (If we are going to get into trouble with everything going right, then having things go wrong certainly isn't going to help things - and Murphy's Law is still very much alive.)

Historically, oil production from existing fields has decreased at about 4% per year due to depletion. If we take 4% of current world oil production of 84.5 million barrels per year (current EIA data - presumably all liquids), then we would need 3.38 million barrels of new production per year just for total production to stay constant. If we assume world population is increasing at 1% per year then we would need 5% of 84.5 = 4.23 million barrels of new production per year just to keep oil production per capita even. On this basis, if you use Skrebowski's everything-goes-right numbers, the peak in oil production per capita is in 2009, and it's downhill after that.

A123Systems Li-ion Battery in Prius

An A123Systems employee shows off a plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius with the company's battery inside it at MIT's Energy 2.0 Conference, which took place March 9 and 10. Combined with the Prius' existing battery, a person can drive about 30 miles to 35 miles per day and recharge at night.

Nevada Solar One Pictures

An aerial view of Nevada Solar One. The site takes up about 300 acres and contains 760 mirror arrays measuring about 100 meters each. Roughly 184,000 mirrors are installed at Solar One, a [64-megawatt] solar thermal plant that will go live next month in Boulder City, Nev. The mirrors direct sunlight on an oil-filled tube. The oil is then used to create steam, which turns a turbine.

Added 1:39 am, see previous post for details about the project.

High Temperature Superconductor Research

A superconductor is a material that conducts electricity with almost no resistance. High-temperature superconductors (HTC) are conductors that superconduct at temperatures much “warmer” than conventional superconductors (although still very cold) — for example, -300°F rather than -460°F.  This difference, while not huge, is enough to make HTCs more viable for practical applications than materials that must be kept much colder. HTCs are important to creating superconductor-based electric and power-delivery devices, such as power transmission lines, motors, and generators.

HTCs are starting to be introduced into service as reported in this previous post.  Much research remains to be done in order to make this a more economical technology.  This post reports on the latest efforts to this end being conducted at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Unlocking the Secrets of High-temperature Superconductors
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Press release, March, 7, 2007

Although it was discovered more than 20 years ago, a particular type of HTC is regaining the attention of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. Copper-oxide compounds, called cuprates, operate at temperatures warmer than traditional superconductors but still far below freezing.

LS9: Biofuels that Resemble Petroleum

Biofuel company  LS9 Inc., the Renewable Petroleum Company(TM), is using synthetic biology to produce proprietary biofuels that resemble petroleum — but which are designed to be “renewable, clean, domestically produced, and cost competitive.”  The company said today that it raised $5 million in its first round of venture funding from Flagship Ventures and Khosla Ventures, two early-stage investment firms.

The San Carlos, California company was founded in 2005 by Khosla Ventures, Flagship Ventures, along with two scientists, Chris Somerville, Director of the Carnegie Institution and Professor of Plant Biology at Stanford University, and George Church, Director of the MIT-Harvard US-Dept. of Energy GTL Center and Professor of Genetics at Harvard.

The companies products, currently under development, are designed to closely resemble petroleum derived fuels. Derived from diverse agricultural feedstocks, these high energy liquid fuels are renewable and compatible with current distribution and consumer infrastructure.

Helically Symmetric eXperiment (HSX) at UW More Efficient than Previous Stellarators

A research team, headed by electrical and computer engineering Professor David Anderson and research assistant John Canik at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recently proved that the Helically Symmetric eXperiment (HSX) can overcome a major barrier in plasma research: Previous stellarators lost too much energy to reach the high temperatures needed for fusion.

Results show that the the odd-looking magnetic plasma chamber design of the HSX in fact loses less energy than previous stellarators, meaning that fusion in this type of stellarator could be possible.

Current plasma research builds on two types of magnetic plasma confinement devices, tokamaks and stellarators. The HSX aims to merge the best properties of both by giving a more stable stellarator the confinement of a more energetically efficient tokamak. "The slower energy comes out, the less power you have to put in, and the more economical the reactor is," says Canik.

Digitated Energy Storage Devices (DESDs)

The desirability of storing energy in a low cost device with a high energy density, a low weight, long life and that have the ability to absorb and discharge this energy quickly, such as is required in hybrid vehicles for the absorption of the energy wasted in braking and discharging energy quickly as needed for spurts of acceleration, has been the subject of much R& D over the past couple of decades.  These are tasks that lead acid batteries do not do well, advanced batteries, NIH and lithium batteries, do better do much better in terms of weight, energy density, and lifetime, but they are much more expensive than the heavy and bulky lead acid batteries that they would replace. Costs of advanced batteries will come down as the scale of production is increased, but not as low as Pb-acid batteries because of the cost of materials. Capacitors charge and discharge rapidly but to date they have not been able to handle the energy needs of automobiles in a reasonable size or cost.

The newest technology being developed to fill this need, that I have heard of, is that being done by Researchers at The University of Arizona who are developing an ultracapacitor technology based on DESDs (Digitated Energy Storage Devices) built on Nani-scale structures that could be used in hybrid vehicles to improve their performance.

DOE Selects 13 Projects for Solar Technology Development

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on February 8 announced the selection of 13 industry-led solar technology development projects for negotiation for up to $168 million (FY’07-’09) in funding, subject to appropriation from Congress.  These projects will help significantly reduce the cost of producing and distributing solar energy.  As part of the cost-shared agreements, the industry-led teams will contribute more than 50 percent of the funding for these projects for a total value of up to $357 million over three years. These cooperative agreements, to be negotiated, will be the first made available as part of President Bush’s Solar America Initiative (SAI), a component of his Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), announced in his 2006 State of the Union Address. 

These projects enable the projected expansion of the annual U.S. manufacturing capacity of PV systems from 240 MW in 2005 to as much as 2,850 MW by 2010, representing more than a ten-fold increase.  Such capacity would also put the U.S. industry on track to reduce the cost of electricity produced by PV from current levels of $0.18-$0.23 per kWh to $0.05 - $0.10 per kWh by 2015 – a price that is competitive in markets nationwide.

First Early Site Permit for Nuclear Plant

March 8 - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today voted to approve an Early Site Permit (ESP) for Exelon Generation Company, LLC, the first to be approved under a new licensing process.

The ESP resolves with finality certain environmental, site suitability and emergency planning issues with regard to the possible construction and operation of a new nuclear plant next to the Clinton Power Station in Clinton, Ill. Exelon has not decided to move forward with building a new nuclear plant.

The 20-year permit allows Exelon to "bank" a site for a possible power plant; however, it does not authorize construction of a new plant. Should the company decide to build a power plant, it would need to apply for a combined operating license.

"This is the last major hurdle in the process. We are very pleased with how the early site permit process has progressed," said Marilyn Kray, Exelon Nuclear Vice President of Project Manager, who has led this effort for the company since it began in 2002. for the company since it began in 2002.

Delta Electronics Producing Spectrolab Cells

Delta Electronics (TSE:2308), today announced that it has successfully completed the development of a certified and cost effective assembly process for the manufacturing of concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules, a new and exciting solar cell technology that boasts greater than 35% efficiency. Collaborated with Spectrolab, who originally developed the underlying technology, Delta aims to enable wide availability of CPV modules by its advanced assembly process and bring about a superior alternative to the burgeoning solar power industry.

Spectrolab, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, is the world leader in the development of highly efficient terrestrial concentrator solar cells. It recently demonstration converting 40.7 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity.

Dupont Provides Update on its Biofuels Activities

A DuPont (NYSE: DD) executive says his company's cellulosic technology delivers more energy output for energy input than conventional grain ethanol... or even gasoline.

Speaking as one of the keynote speakers at the World Biofuels Markets, DuPont Biofuels Vice President & General Manager John Ranieri provided an update on the company's initiatives to deliver technologies to produce biofuels.

DuPont has a three-part biofuels strategy that includes:

1. Discovering new technologies to make advanced biofuels, such as biobutanol
2. Developing technologies to convert agricultural feedstocks and energy crops into biofuels
3. Improving the yield of grain ethanol production through by increasing yield per acre of energy crops

Biobutanol Partnership with BP and Advanced Biofuels Pipeline: DuPont's partnership with BP to develop biobutanol is based on its strategy to bring advanced biofuels to market to expand the use of biofuels in gasoline. Biobutanol will be the first advanced performance product available from this partnership. It resolves fuel stability issues in that biobutanol-gasoline blends can potentially be distributed via the existing fuel supply infrastructure; it improves blend flexibility allowing higher biofuels blends with gasoline; it improves fuel efficiency (better miles per gallon) compared to incumbent biofuels; and, it enhances ethanol-gasoline blends by lowering the vapor pressure when co-blended with these fuels. Biobutanol is targeted for introduction later this year in the United Kingdom. Additional global capacity will be introduced as market conditions dictate.

Atairnano Receives More Funding

In a recent press release Altairnano (Nasdaq: ALTI) announced that it had received a $3 million investment from AES Corporation (NYSE: AES).

AES privately purchased 895,523 treasury shares of Altair common stock at $3.35 per share. The purchased shares represent approximately 1.5% of Altair’s outstanding common shares. AES Corporation and its subsidiaries engage in the generation and distribution of electric power.

inside greentech had a good summary of Altairnanos latest activities. There is a particularly good interview with Altairnano's CEO Alan Gotcher in which he explains how technology from such a small company could produce such a revolutionary product. Thats for you to read, but one item was this:

Enova Delivers Hybrid Vans to Verizon

Enova Systems Inc. (AMEX: ENA) announced on March 7 that it has designed, integrated and delivered thirteen (13) GMC 2500 service vans with Enova's Post-Transmission Parallel Hybrid Drive System to Verizon. Verizon owns the 2nd largest vehicle fleet in North America, estimated at 58,000 vehicles, behind only UPS in total fleet vehicles in service. Enova fully designed and integrated its Post-Transmission 120 kW Hybrid Drive system into the vehicles for use in Verizon's fleet. Verizon Is first major company to retrofit vans with hybrid power.

Enova's Post-Transmission System is one in which the Electric Drive System is integrated behind the Transmission and is designed to be installed as a "drop in," fully integrated turnkey fashion into an OEM production line, or retrofitted in post vehicle production in a modular, "as-needed" basis. The system is comprised of a proprietary AC induction electric motor, controller and energy management system, and is designed and engineered as a total production ready solution.The Charge Sustaining System utilizes relatively small batteries which are maintained within specified range of State of Charge (SOC) over the entire drive cycle.

Depending on the route, fuel economy, in miles per gallon (mpg) improvement, is from 30% to 55% or better for the Post-Transmission Charge Sustaining System. Emission improvements vary with the pollutant being measured and has shown up to a 90% improvement at times on Particulate Matter based on load and operating condition dependent.

CTL Legislation Proposed

Sens. Bunning and Obama push CTL
ARLINGTON, Va., March 8 (UPI)

U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., called for increased invesment in coal-to-liquid technology at the U.S. Energy Forum in Arlington, Va. "Scale of investment, uncertainty in oil prices and a complicated environmental permitting process have prevented the industry from taking root in the United States," Bunning said.

Bunning and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., co-introduced a bill in January called the Coal-To-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007. It would allow the Department of Energy to provide loan guarantees for construction, planning and permitting of CTL plants. It would also expand investment tax credits and provide the Department of Defense funding and authorization to purchase, test, and integrate these fuels into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and military fuel supplies. ...

The synfuel made from coal is low in sulfur, nitrous-oxide and partical emissions. Another benefit to the military is that the lower burning tempture reduces the heat signature of jet engines.

The most important reason to invest in CTL, Bunning said, is that its "a secure domestic fuel source and the American economy and military are too reliant on foreign fuel sources."

I'm for the loan guantees, but we do not need the subsidies provided by investment tax credits. There should also be a clause that requires the CO2 produced by the CTL process be sequestered.

Ethanol from Whey

Red Herring reports that startup Earthanol of Newport Beach, CA has raised $7.1 million in venture funding to make ethanol from waste.

Unlike typical ethanol producers, Earthanol is trying to utilize a cheese industry waste called whey permeate, an acidic by-product that is generally considered environmentally harmful. Earthanol will also try to utilize forestry biomass and municipal waste containing high energy content.

The $7.1 million is being earmarked for development work. The company will decide within two years whether to build an ethanol manufacturing facility.

The Alarm:Clock adds: The Company sees its total market opportunity as approximately ten whey permeate projects totaling 100M gallons of ethanol per year.

The more feedstocks that are developed, the more ethanol we can make.  Whey will not produce much volume, but since whey is normally disposed of it makes an excellent feedstock requiring no land use to produce the feedstock.

First 100% Biodiesel Power Plant

Biofuels Power Corp. announced today that it has begun producing and selling electricity into the ERCOT Power Grid from its biodiesel powered generating plant in Oak Ridge North, Texas. The Oak Ridge North facility is the first power plant in the country to run entirely on biodiesel, a renewable carbon neutral fuel produced from vegetable oil and animal fat. Biofuels Power plans to build a series of biodiesel powered electric generating plants to serve residential and industrial customers in the Houston Metropolitan area.

The Oak Ridge North facility has a capacity of up to 5 Megawatts and uses three diesel powered Caterpillar generators that run exclusively on biodiesel fuel produced by the Safe Renewables refinery located within two miles of the power plant.

Biofuels Power is now constructing a larger turbine-based biodiesel power plant at the Safe Renewables’ refinery site. The second facility is expected to deliver over 10 Megawatts into the Entergy power grid

AQMD Orders 30 Plug-ins

The California South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) authorized the spending of $2.6 million for a test fleet of 30 plug-in electric hybrid cars and sport utility vehicles. Contracts were awarded to Quantum Technologies Inc. of Irvine, CA to furnish 20 Escape plug-in vehicles and Hymotion of Toronto, Canada to furnish 10 Prius plug-ins.

The board authorized a contract not to exceed $2.1 million with Quantum to buy and convert 20 of Ford Motor Co.'s Escape gasoline-electric hybrid SUVs. Their contract includes over $1 million for design costs. The Escapes will use batteries from Advanced Lithium Power Inc., a Vancouver, Canada, company in which Quantum is a 20% stakeholder.

Quantum has considerable experience in design, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of gaseous fuel management systems and alternate fueled vehicles. Since 1997 Quantum has produced over 16,000 alternate fueled vehicles.  Quantum is the manufacturer of record with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for GM’s CNG powered Chevrolet Cavalier, full size Van and medium and heavy-duty CNG powered Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks. In 2004, in response to a competitive RFP, Quantum was awarded a contract with AQMD to develop and demonstrate 30 hydrogen-powered Prius vehicles.

Cost of Bitumin from Canadian Oil Sands Skyrocketing

Canadian Oil Sands Developments: Will Cost Hyper-inflation Curb Attractiveness?
Press release, Woods Mackenzie, March 2007

In its latest analysis of Canada's oil sands assets, Wood Mackenzie finds that capital costs per peak flowing barrel have increased by some 55% since the beginning of 2005, putting pressure on returns on investment in an area where project economics are already considered relatively marginal.

Conor Bint, Upstream Research Analyst for Wood Makenzie said; "Marginal economics have always been a concern for companies operating in the oil sands, breakeven prices are high and rates of return relatively low in comparison with conventional projects, particularly for mining projects." Wood Mackenzie estimates that mining projects have an average breakeven price of US$28/bbl and IRR of just 16%. Rates of return are more favourable at the less capital intensive in-situ projects, averaging around 22%. ...

Between now and 2015, Wood Mackenzie expects some Cdn$125 billion to be spent in the oil sands sector, representing a 42% increase on its early 2006 forecast for the same period (Cdn$88 billion). Wood Mackenzie's analysis finds that the significant increase in costs is largely due to labour shortages and increased material costs, which have created a hyper-inflationary environment within the oil and gas industry in Alberta. ...