The Energy Blog

Sharp to Up Thin-film Solar Cell Capacity

Sharp Corp (OTC: SHCAY (ADR) ), the worlds largest producer of solar cells, announced on Thursday it would invest 22 billion yen ($200 million) to increase capacity for thin-film solar cells at its Katsuragi Plant (shown left, Nara Prefecture, Japan) from the current level of 15 MW (megawatts) to 160 MW (160,000 kW) per year by October 2008.

Thin-film solar cells are fabricated by depositing thin layers of silicon on a glass substrate. This structure enables a dramatic reduction in the amount of silicon raw material used to approximately one hundredth the amount used in conventional crystalline solar cells, and also provides for shorter production process times and lower costs from manufacturing economies of scale.

Sharp began mass production of tandem thin-film solar cells with a tandem-junction structure (amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon) in September 2005. Now, Sharp is making thin-film solar cells with a triple-junction structure, which consists of two amorphous layers and a microcrystalline layer. With these triple-junction thin-film solar cells, Sharp has achieved module conversion efficiencies of approximately 10%, at the industry's top level.

According to this earlier announcement Sharp was to increase annual production capacity for solar cells at its Katsuragi Plant to 600 MW by November 2006, the world's highest. This current announcement would bring the total to 765 MW.

This Reuters story reported that Sharp had previously announced plans to ramp up its thin-film capacity with a new plant in Sakai in Osaka prefecture to go online by March 2010 and eventually target output of 1,000MW per year at this facility.

Sharp also has UK production capability of 220MW.

Exxon: Film May Lead to Car Battery that is Lighter and Safer

It seems that everyone is getting into the battery business, one of them will succeed in making a smaller, lighter and less expensive battery.  This development by ExxonMobil sound very promising.

ExxonMobil Chemical and ExxonMobil's Japanese affiliate, Tonen Chemical have developed a thin film separator for use in lithium-ion batteries, that would enable production of batteries like those found in cell phones and laptops, to power cars and trucks. These new film technologies are expected to significantly enhance the power, safety and reliability of lithium-ion batteries, thereby helping speed the adoption of these smaller and lighter batteries into the next wave of lower-emission vehicles.

This weekend, at the 23rd Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS-23) in Anaheim, Calif., Exxon Mobil will unveil a super-thin plastic sheeting the company says can improve the power, safety and reliability of lithium-ion batteries for use in automobiles.

Separator film is an integral part of battery system design and critical to overall performance. ExxonMobil Chemical’s new technology platform builds on twenty years experience in lithium-ion battery separators, applying advanced polymer and process technologies with flexibility to tailor products to battery manufacturer requirements.

Exxon Mobil considers the film a breakthrough because it allows battery makers to build smaller and cheaper battery systems — removing key obstacles that have kept automakers from building hybrid and electric vehicles on a wide scale. Porosity is one of the key parameters in building higher performance separators and Tonen has developed a prototype film with a 51% porosity compared to 37% in current production batteries while maintaining the same strength and thermal integrity.

Exxon Mobil developed its film with Japanese affiliate Tonen Chemical (see this earlier press release that discloses that Tonen has been manufacturing films for small Li-ion batteries since 1991). Invented in research labs at Exxon Mobil's Baytown complex, the film is the first to squeeze multiple layers of plastic into a single white sheet the width (thickness?) of a human hair.

Tonen and Exxon are exploring the possibility of building a new production facility for the new generation of films in Gumi, Korea.

More here, here, here and here   

Material for this post is based on an article in The Houston Chronicle and various ExxonMobil publications.

New UK Heavy Oil Recovery System Could Unleash Generations of Production of Inexpensive Oil

Is the THAI™ system (below) or any other process that comes along for economically recovering heavy oil and bitumen the answer to our dependence on oil for the majority of our transportation fuels?  This does not appear to be pie in the sky, as they already have a 3,000 bpd pilot plant in operation. Since oil for transportation systems is becoming very expensive (relatively, especially in the US and other dollar denominated countries) and our current development of alternative liquid fuels and/or electrically fueled vehicles is not currently moving ahead fast enough to have a significant impact on oil prices in the near future, (nor would this process in the short term) should we celebrate such a process as a possible constraint on oil prices?  There is much heavy oil in the Western Hemisphere other than Canada, including Venezuela and western parts of the US, the use of which would greatly reduce our dependence on oil from the Mideast and Africa.  It certainly would be a big boost to the Canadian economy.  If widely adopted what does this do to further development of renewable energy and the accompanying reductions in CO2 emissions?

University of Bath press release:

A new method developed in Britain over the past 17 years for extracting oil is now at the forefront of plans to exploit a massive heavy oilfield in Canada.

Duvernay Petroleum is to use the revolutionary Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI™) system developed at the University of Bath at its site at Peace River in Alberta, Canada.

Although heavy oil extraction has steadily increased over the last ten years, the processes used are very energy intensive, especially of natural gas and water. But the THAI™ system is more efficient, and this, and the increasing cost of conventional light oil, could lead to the widespread exploitation of heavy oil.

Google's Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced a new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. The newly created initiative, known as RE<C, will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies.

In 2008, Google expects to spend tens of millions on research and development and related investments in renewable energy. As part of its capital planning process, the company also anticipates investing hundreds of millions of dollars in breakthrough renewable energy projects which generate positive returns.

"There has been tremendous work already on renewable energy. Technologies have been developed that can mature into industries capable of providing electricity cheaper than coal. Solar thermal technology, for example, provides a very plausible path to providing renewable energy cheaper than coal. We are also very interested in further developing other technologies that have potential to be cost-competitive and green. We are aware of several promising technologies, and believe there are many more out there."

"With talented technologists, great partners and significant investments, we hope to rapidly push forward. Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal.  We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades."

-- Larry Page, Google Co-founder and President of Products

Supergrid to Supply Europe with Wind Power

The Independent reports that a proposed supergrid could supply Europe with carbon free electricity primarily from wind power. The 5,000-mile electrical grid, stretching from Siberia to Morocco and Egypt to Iceland, would slash Europe's CO2 emissions by a quarter, scientists say.

The scheme would make the use of renewable energy, particularly wind power, so reliable and cheap that it would replace fossil fuels on an unprecedented scale, serving 1.1 billion people in 50 countries. Europe's 1.25bn tons of annual CO2 output from electricity generation would be wiped out. High-voltage direct current (HVDC) lines, up to 100 times as long as the alternating current (AC) cables carried by the National Grid's pylons, would form the system's main arteries. HVDC lines are three times as efficient, making them cost effective over distances above 50 miles.

Building the supergrid would require an investment of US$80bn (£40bn), plus the cost of the wind turbines – a fraction of the €1 trillion the EU expects to pay for a 20 per cent reduction of its carbon footprint by 2020. The average price of the electricity generated would be just 4.6 euro cents per kWh, competitive with today's rates, which are likely to rise as fossil fuels run out.  . . .

Crude Reserves in US Decline, Natural Gas Reserves Increase

U.S. crude oil proved reserves declined 4 percent in 2006, while natural gas reserves increased by 3% according to estimates released by the Energy Information Administration

The Gulf of Mexico Federal Offshore and Alaska, two of the largest oil producing areas, respectively reported 10 and 7 percent declines in crude oil proved reserves. This was due to downward revisions and fewer new discoveries. Utah reported the largest increase in crude oil proved reserves, adding 78 million barrels (a 30 percent increase from 2005), followed by Colorado and New Mexico. 

Domestic crude oil production declined 5 percent in 2006 due mostly to lower production in Alaska. Part of the decline resulted from an August 2006 shut-in of producing wells in half of the Prudhoe Bay Field for inspection and repair of corrosion in the gathering system. For the second year in a row Montana had the largest annual oil production increase of any state (6 million barrels; a 20 percent increase) owing to continued development of the Bakken Formation in the Elm Coulee Field. This relatively new and important oil field is difficult to produce and requires cutting-edge technology for economic production.

U.S. natural gas proved reserves increased 3 percent in 2006, rising to over 211 trillion cubic feet, the highest level since 1976. Additions to reserves replaced 136 percent of the dry natural gas produced in 2006. This was the eighth year in a row that U.S. natural gas proved reserves have increased.

Total U.S. natural gas production increased in 2006 due to production increases in Texas (Barnett Shale), Louisiana, and the Rocky Mountain states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana). Gulf of Mexico natural gas production declined the most with a 6 percent drop.

Advance Summary: U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids Reserves 2006 Annual Report is available on the EIA Internet site at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/data_publications/advanced_summary/current/adsum.pdf

Improved Strain of Camelina Developed for Biodiesel Feedstock

Targeted Growth, Inc. (TGI), a renewable energy bioscience company, and Green Earth Fuels, a biodiesel energy company, announced the formation of a joint venture called Sustainable Oils, Inc.. The new venture will produce and market up to 100 million gallons of Camelina-based biodiesel by 2010, launching the single largest U.S. contract for the unique biodiesel-specific feedstock. Nearly all of the initial Camelina production is expected to be grown in Montana.

Camelina, a distant relative to Canola, can grow on marginal land, requires minimal water or fertilizer, and can be harvested with traditional equipment. TGI has been perfecting Camelina for the past three years in greenhouse and field trials. Specifically, it has used non-transgenic molecular assisted breeding programs to create a crop that is well suited to Montana’s climate and soil and that produces high quality biodiesel.

“We have created a better feedstock for biodiesel,” said Tom Todaro, CEO of Targeted Growth. “Camelina can be rotated with current Montana crops, it grows in land with lower agricultural value, and it doesn’t significantly increase the use of fertilizer or irrigation water. We think this will be a model for the development and use of other biofuel-specific crops.”

“This deal allows us access to a high quality feedstock at an extraordinarily competitive price,” said Green Earth Fuels CEO Greg Bafalis. “There’s an advantage to being vertically integrated – it closely aligns our interests with those of our feedstock suppliers. And because Camelina exists outside of the traditional commodity market, it should not be as volatile as other feedstocks.”

Targeted Growth has spent years applying its suite of yield and trait technologies to Camelina to create the first Elite Camelina Seed. Green Earth Fuels opened one of the country’s largest biodiesel production facilities this month, in Houston, and is successfully developing additional projects to provide biodiesel that meets exceptional quality and ratability standards to leading energy companies.

This is a welcome addition to the feedstocks available for biodiesel. Until biodiesel from algae becomes a commercial reality, lower cost, higher yielding crops will improve the viability of biodiesel.

Maxwell Technologies, Tianjin Lishen Battery to Develop "Hybrid" Products" Combining Ultracacitors and Li-ion Batteries

Maxwell Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MXWL) and Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co., Ltd. , (Lishen), China’s leading producer of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, have announced an alliance to manufacture and market novel “hybrid” energy storage products combining the companies’ respective ultracapacitor and li-ion battery technologies.

David Schramm, Maxwell’s president and chief executive officer, said that the companies see a large market opportunity for products that leverage the complementary strengths of double layer capacitor and li-ion battery technologies.

“We believe that the products we envision will give end-users the best of both worlds in terms of the long cycle life, rapid charge/discharge characteristics and low temperature performance of ultracapacitors and the large energy storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries,” Schramm said. “We also plan to move some of our BOOSTCAP product assembly to Lishen in order to leverage our joint process engineering capabilities, and Lishen will conduct development and qualification testing on battery electrode material produced through Maxwell’s proprietary dry process, so we see this as a deep and strategically important alliance for both companies.”

The companies have identified a number of initial target applications for the new products, ranging from quick-charge cordless tools to electric vehicles, and anticipate production and delivery of initial product samples in early 2008.

This is not the first announcement of such a poroduct, but it brings together two very large companies who can pull off this feat.  It should be a great product.

An Inconvenient, Dirty Truth About Cheap and Plentiful Coal

This column from the Canadian Globe and Mall gives the writers opinion of the role coal will play in our future energy needs. For those of you that thought renewable energy, conservation and perhaps a new fleet of nuclear reactors were going to save our climate, this article gives a rather dismal picture.    

If you want to make money and don't mind spitting up black phlegm and destroying the planet, buy coal. While the energy markets and the media are obsessed with rising oil prices, the developing world is quietly gearing up for a coal development and consumption spree of astounding proportions. The energy markets of tomorrow are not about oil and hydrogen and wind turbines spinning lazily on ridges. They're about coal, which is cheap and plentiful but also the worst news for the environment that you could imagine in the post-Al Gore world.

The investor case for coal is hard to beat.  . . .

In a gas-fired plant, 3 per cent to 4 per cent by volume of the flue gases flung into the atmosphere are carbon dioxide. The figure in a coal plant is 15 per cent. No wonder the IEA predicts coal's share of global carbon dioxide emissions will rise from 38 per cent in 2000 to 45 per cent in 2030.  .  .  .

In fact, no large coal plant anywhere on the planet uses carbon capture. The technology is said to be coming but you can bet it won't arrive quickly. Designing and building a plant that uses carbon capture can add 50 per cent to the capital costs.  . . . more

Thanks to Tyler of Clean Break for the tip.

UPS Goes Green

UPS rolled out an electric car and truck fleet this week to help with small parcel deliveries in in Northern California using 42 electric cars and trucks from ZAP (OTCBB: ZAAP). The move was made to reduce fuel consumption, reduce CO2 emissions and to provide a more maneuverable vehicle in congested urban areas.

The UPS branch in Petaluma, California (just north of San Francisco) has leased an initial fleet of 42 ZAP Xebra® electric city cars and trucks for their small parcel deliveries. This is the first time that UPS has used electric city-speed vehicles for this purpose.

Small parcel deliveries are becoming more challenging for the trademark big, brown UPS delivery vans, which is why UPS is using the electric city cars and trucks to handle small parcel deliveries. The ZAP vehicles lessen fuel consumption and reduce automotive emissions produced by current delivery vehicles. Drivers will be monitoring their electrical usage to carefully analyze cost-savings and emissions reductions.