The Energy Blog

Firefly Truck Battery to be Available for Evaluation in First Quarter 2008

Per press release:

Firefly Energy Inc. the Peoria, Illinois based leader in developing next generation carbon and graphite foam batteries, announced today that the first preproduction versions of its BCI Group 31 truck battery – to be marketed under the new name “Oasis” – will be available for review and testing during the first quarter of 2008.

The company said its Oasis battery will primarily be utilized when the truck’s diesel engine is turned off, and provide up to 50 percent longer runtimes than competitors when powering accessories which collectively make up a truck’s “hotel loads.” This newly branded battery will be unveiled by Firefly Energy at its first ever tradeshow appearance at the SAE Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress and Exhibition (ComVec), Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2007, in Rosemont, IL.

“Antidiesel engine idling regulations will soon become pervasive across the nation, and better battery performance will be crucial in contributing to trucker safety, comfort, and productivity,” said Ed Williams, chief executive officer of Firefly Energy. “Our Oasis battery will help ensure truck drivers maintain a comfortable haven for their rest periods”

Human-generated Ozone Could Reduce Production by More Than 10 Percent by 2100

Per a MT News Release:

A  MIT study concludes that increasing levels of ozone due to the growing use of fossil fuels will damage global vegetation, resulting in serious costs to the world's economy.

The analysis, reported in the November issue of Energy Policy, focused on how three environmental changes (increases in temperature, carbon dioxide and ozone) associated with human activity will affect crops, pastures and forests.

The research shows that increases in temperature and in carbon dioxide may actually benefit vegetation, especially in northern temperate regions. However, those benefits may be more than offset by the detrimental effects of increases in ozone, notably on crops. Ozone is a form of oxygen that is an atmospheric pollutant at ground level.

The economic cost of the damage will be moderated by changes in land use and by agricultural trade, with some regions more able to adapt than others. But the overall economic consequences will be considerable. According to the analysis, if nothing is done, by 2100 the global value of crop production will fall by 10 to 12 percent.  . . . More

Startup Plans on Establishing Grids to Sell Electricity for Recharging Electric Cars

Shai Agassi, former SAP executive, announced today the formation of Project Better Place, a company based on one of the 21st century’s biggest challenges – developing a sustainable, environmental solution for converting country-wide transportation systems toward electricity and away from fossil fuel. Electric vehicles would be enabled through an electric recharge grid infrastructure and using charge spots and battery exchange stations. In one of the largest-ever initial fundings for a startup, the company has raised $200 million from a group of investors lead by Israel Corp. The energy cost of all-electric cars would be about 7 cents a mile which is  less than a third of the cost of driving a gasoline-powered car today.

Project Better Place will focus in phase one on establishing a repeatable infrastructure to support electric vehicles, implementing electric recharge grids through local operating companies in multiple countries. They will establish a widespread grid of electric charging spots at current parking locations as well as battery exchange stations, analogous to gas stations, all of which are integrated with software systems. These capabilities will provide consumers with the energy to keep their cars charged and driving without the need to wait for electricity at any point. The new grid presents a practical solution to address barriers to electric vehicle adoption.

In addition, the company will secure partnerships with a supply chain of car makers, technology providers, and global and local financing institutions.  The company is currently in discussions with various governments to establish pilot sites, with plans to begin rollout of the new infrastructure in early 2008.

REC to Build World's Largest Solar Manufacturing Complex in Singapore

REC Group announced that it will build a new worldscale solar manufacturing complex in Singapore with total investments possibly exceeding US$4.3 billion (EUR 3 billion) within the next 5 years. It has simultaneously signed an agreement with the Singaporean government agency Economic Development Board (EDB) that defines the terms and conditions related to the development of a new production site, the process of establishing a manufacturing complex, as well as operational and commercial conditions.

In addition to wafer, cell and module production, the manufacturing complex will incorporate infrastructure and support facilities, as well as an on-site supplier park. Sufficient space has also been reserved for future R&D activities and possible manufacturing facilities based on potential new technologies.

The green field site can hold a capacity of up to 1.5 GW within each product area, although it is not likely that the production capacity for wafer, cells and modules will be fully balanced. Depending on the final capacity and site development, total investments in the Singapore site may exceed EUR 3 billion within the next 5 years and the total number of employees could be around 3 000 people.

The development of this site will enable us to continue expanding in a cost efficient manner and will support REC's ambitious cost target. Our future cost position will determine our ability to deliver solar products that can compete with traditional energy sources in the sunny areas of the world without government incentives", said Erik Thosen, the President & CEO of REC.

REC is positioned in the solar energy industry as the only company with a presence across the entire value chain. REC Silicon and REC Wafer are the world's largest producers of polysilicon and wafers for solar applications. REC Solar produces solar cells and solar modules. REC Group had revenues in 2006 of US$810 million (NOK 4 334 million) and an operating profit of US$294 million (NOK 1 574 million).

U.N. Rapporteur Calls for Moratorium on Building Biofuel Plants Using Food Feedstocks

Biopact reports that Jean Ziegler, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, presented his annual report to the General Assembly in New York, which calls for a 5-year moratorium on the production of first-generation liquid biofuels made from food crops such as corn, wheat, palm oil and rapeseed.  A UN special rapporteur is an independent expert, who does not receive any financial compensation for his or her work.

The Energy Blog supports this position except in locations where it can be shown that the production of first-generation biofuels are not causing a significant increase of food prices and are not causing an adverse effect on the environment. This policy should also encourage the building of second-generation plants, that use less water and energy and building of cellulosic biofuel plants that use non-food feedstocks. Additionally The Energy Blog believes that any subsidies on first-generation plants should be phased out over a five year period. This would encourage first generation plants to be converted to second-generation plants or where applicable to cellulosic plants that use the whole plant as feedstock.

Tennant Unveils Technology that Turns Water into Cleaning Solution, Uses 70% Less Water

Tennant Company Unveils Green Technology That Makes Water Behave Like a Powerful Detergent, Without Adding Chemicals

Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC), annouced ech2o™ (pronounced “echo”) technology in a press release, a breakthrough cleaning technology that electrically activates plain tap water, making it behave like a powerful detergent without any added chemicals.

According to Tennant, the patent-pending ech2o™ technology offers eco-friendly advantages including lower costs, ease of use and improved operator safety plus an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional cleaning methods. ech2o’s cleaning effectiveness is proven to be the same or better than general purpose cleaners, without the negative environmental impact and health issues associated with producing, packaging, transporting, using and disposing of traditional cleaning chemicals. Among ech2o’s additional benefits, it uses 70 percent less water than traditional cleaning methods. ech2o begins as water and ends as water.

"Our new ech2o technology is a category-changing advancement for the cleaning industry, and delivers on our goal to offer cleaning solutions that lower cost-of-use, improve health and safety and are more environmentally friendly. By changing the properties of plain tap water, ech2o enables it to clean as well as, or better than, traditional chemical-based cleaners. It virtually eliminates any negative impact the cleaning process may have on our natural environment," said Chris Killingstad, Tennant Company's president and chief executive officer.

HelioVolt Announces Closing of its Series B Funding for $101 Million

HelioVolt Corporation, a producer of highly-efficient thin film solar products, announced the closing of its Series B funding round for a total of $101 million. This makes it the largest clean-tech venture capital financing on record according to Matt Marshall of Venture Beat. The additional funding will be used to accelerate scale-up and global deployment of HelioVolt’s proprietary manufacturing process for Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) building-integrated solar products.

HelioVolt Corporation was founded in 2001 to develop and market new technology for applying thin film photovoltaic coatings to a variety of substrates including conventional construction materials. The company’s  process, based on rapid semiconductor printing, was invented by HelioVolt founder Dr. Billy J. Stanbery, an eminent expert within the international PV community in the materials science of CIGS and related compound semiconductors.  FASST™ is a low-cost, flexible manufacturing process for CIGS synthesis and is protected by both nine issued US patents and by numerous global patents pending.

Unexpected Growth in Atmospheric CO2

From press releases:

Research by the Global Carbon Project, the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) shows that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) growth has increased 35 percent faster than expected since 2000.

The paper, “Contributions to accelerating atmospheric CO₂ growth from economic activity, carbon intensity, and efficiency of natural sinks," found that inefficiency in the use of fossil fuels increased levels of CO₂ by 17 percent, while the other 18 percent came from the decline in the efficiency of natural land and ocean sinks which soak up CO₂ from the atmosphere.

The research also shows that improvements in the carbon intensity of the global economy have stalled since 2000 after improving for 30 years, leading to the unexpected growth of atmospheric CO₂.    . . .

The study also states that global CO₂ emissions were up to 9.9 billion tons of carbon in 2006, 35 percent above emissions in 1990.

The Southern Ocean winds have increased in response to greenhouse gases and ozone depletion. The increase in winds has led to a release of natural CO₂ stored in the deep ocean, which is preventing further absorption of the greenhouse gas.

According to another report on the study, the present atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is 381 ppm, the largest concentration in the last 650,000 years, and probably in the last 20 million years.

A123Systems Raises Additional $30 million

Per press release:

A123Systems, developer and producer of patent-pending Nanophosphate™ lithium ion batteries, announced that it has completed a $30 million round of funding, bringing the total capital invested in the company to $132 million.

A123Systems will use these funds to increase production capacity for new contract awards for hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and extended range electric vehicle design wins with major automakers including a contract to co-develop proprietary cells for the GM E-FLEX program.

A123Systems has recently opened for business its new, state-of-the-art manufacturing site for the company’s Automotive Class Lithium Ion batteries.

A123Systems is one of the world’s leading suppliers of high-power lithium ion batteries. The company’s patent pending Nanophosphate™ technology enables its batteries to deliver previously unattainable levels of power, safety and life. With more than 800 employees and the largest lithium ion R&D team in North America, world-class expertise and management, and global manufacturing operations, A123Systems’ Automotive Class Lithium Ion™ batteries are leading the automotive movement towards platform electrification.

Read the complete press release here.

Just to keep everyone up to date on what is going on with one of the contenders, if not the leading contender, in the race to produce safe and hopefully affordable lithium-ion automobile batteries. In a recent post we have seen that Altairnano is not yet affordable, I am waiting to see if EnerDel can deliver on its promise for $1,500 plug-in batteries and we can't forget Johnson Controls/Saft the only contender with large scale manufacturing capability.  I am hoping that Firefly can under-price them all with its graphite foam lead-acid battery.

Mozambique has Potential to Sustainably Produce 3.1 Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent per Day

A Biopact post further to substantiate the idea that underdeveloped tropical and semi-tropical regions can be dominant players in the biofuels marketplace.

Mozambique's Agriculture Minister has confirmed his country has signed a huge $510 (€360) million deal with London-listed Central African Mining & Exploration Company Plc (CAMEC) to establish an energy plantation and to build a plant to produce 120 million liters of ethanol per year, as well as fertilizers. . . .

Mozambique has only recently begun to understand that it is a 'biofuel superpower'. Its agro-ecological resources allow for the production of a wide range of efficient energy crops, including eucalyptus, grasses, starch crops like cassava, or sugarcane and jatropha.

Analysts affiliated with the International Energy Agency estimate that the country can produce around 7 Exajoules of biofuels sustainably, that is roughly 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The country currently consumes around 590,000 tonnes of oil products per year, the bulk being diesel (IEA data). This equates to around 0.18EJ. Achieving full energy independence is well within reach, with capacity to spare to supply international markets.

When it comes to the availability of land for energy crops, the country currently uses around 4.3 million hectares out of a total of 63.5 million hectares of potential arable land, or 6.6 per cent. Moreover, some 41 million hectares of poor quality land are available for the production of energy crops that require few inputs and are not suitable for food production.

Read the complete Biopact post here.

There are many other tropical and semi-tropical countries that could equally contribute to our need for liquid fuels while improving their economic plight.  I must repeat my disclaimer that I do not see biofuels as a complete replacement for oil.  However it is an important part of reducing our dependence on oil producing countries and perhaps even more importantly on transitioning the world from ICE powered vehicles to one that depends largely on electrically powered vehicles, whether they be hybrids, plug-in hybrids or all electric vehicles where eventually renewable powered electricity will be dominant.  We must be careful to do this in a sustainable way, not over-utilizing our land resources by unsustainable deforestation, causing erosion, excess fertilization or excess use of water.