The Energy Blog

Alternative Energy Mutual Fund Launched

The Energy Blog is taking a new step by accepting advertising from organizations that are in some way related to the thrust of the blog. Your patronage of the advertisers would be appreciated. The following is a press release from the first of our advertisers, Guinness Atkinson, regarding a new mutual fund that they have launched that invests in companies involved in activities relating to alternative energy.

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management, Inc., announces the launch of the no-load Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund, which will invest in companies involved in the production, distribution or storage of alternative energy, including energy conservation. The fund is designed as a vehicle for investors seeking to profit from and participate in the shift from conventional fuels to alternative energy sources.

The fund will invest primarily in companies that produce 50 percent or more of revenues from alternative energy and will be managed with an emphasis on value. Lead manager of the fund will be Tim Guinness, Chief Investment Officer of Guinness Atkinson, who also manages the Guinness Atkinson Global Energy Fund.

“Increasing global energy demands, coupled with limiting supplies, will continue to force prices for energy higher and, in turn, accelerate the development of alternative energy sources,” Mr. Guinness said. “We believe that the shift from conventional fuels to alternative forms of energy provides a new opportunity for investors,” he added.

BP Forms New Unit, To Use Sequestration

BP today announced that it plans to double its investment in alternative and renewable energies to create a new low-carbon power business with the growth potential to deliver revenues of around $6 billion a year within the next decade. BP Alternative Energy will manage an investment programme in solar, wind, hydrogen and combined-cycle-gas-turbine (CCGT) power generation, which could amount to $8 billion over the next ten years.

“We are focusing our investment in alternatives and renewables on power generation because it accounts for over 40 per cent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, the biggest single source. It is also the area where technology can be applied most cost-effectively to reduce emissions." said BP chief executive Lord Browne.

Investment in hydrogen fuels will include the world’s first commercial project – at Peterhead, in Scotland – to turn natural gas into hydrogen by stripping out carbon dioxide and pumping it into depleted oil reservoirs. The hydrogen will be used at a power station in Peterhead to generate 350 megawatts of ‘clean’ electricity, and the carbon dioxide re-injected into the offshore Miller field. BP is looking at a similar sequestration scheme to make hydrogen from low-value coke by-products at a US refinery which would be used to generate 500 megawatts at an adjacent new-build power plant.

The complete press release can be found here.

The most newsworthy part of this announcement is BP's plans for sequestering carbon dioxide as part of two projects.  I believe that this is the first time sequestration has been used on non-subsidized commercial projects.  Hopefully this will push regulators to look at sequestration as best available commercial technology (BACT) and require it to be used on other projects.

More blogs about environment, hydrogen, energy

Solar News Items

These are some solar news items I came across today that might interest some of you.

Shell Solar tops efficiency record for thin film PV modules

November 1, 2005 - Shell Solar recently achieved a record 13.5% light to electricity conversion efficiency for it's leading thin film CIS (Copper-Indium-Diselenide) photovoltaic technology.  This proves that the performance of thin film technology can be at least as good as that demonstrated by many traditional crystalline silicon products available in the market place today.  The result was independently verified by the TUV Rheinland Group in Cologne, Germany based on a 30 x 30cm sized module.

SOLON to Construct Multi Megawatt Solar Power System

November 2, 2005 - Berlin based, solar module manufaturer SOLON AG has received an order from GEOSOL Gesellschaft für Solarenergie mbH, Berlin, to build a 3.4 Megawatt solar power system.  The station will be equipped with SOLON Movers, photovoltaic systems from SOLON AG that automatically tilt and rotate during the day to directly face the sun at all times.  More at solarbuzz

Nanotechnology Center Makes Flexible Solar Cell Breakthrough

November 7, 2005 - Researchers at Wake Forest, with the help of researchers at New Mexico State University, have achieved an efficiency rate for organic solar cells of almost 6 percent. In order to be considered a viable technology, the solar cells must be able to convert about 10 percent of the energy in sunlight to electricity. Wake Forest researchers hope to reach 10 percent by October 2006, said David Carroll, director of the nanotechnology center at Wake Forest.  More at newswise

Sharp Corporation Raises Solar Cell Production Capacity

November 2, 2005 - In plans announced on Monday, Sharp Corporation said that the company will boost the solar cell production capacity of its Katsuragi plant in Nara Prefecture.  The company's annual production capacity is being increased to 500 Megawatts, which represents an additional 85 Megawatts on previous plans.

Flexible Solar Cells on Polymer Foil Reach 14.1% Efficiency

November 4, 20005 - The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) has set a new record for thin film solar cells on plastic (polyimide) foil. The research team of Professor Ayodhya Nath Tiwari, Dr. Dominik Rudmann and David Bremaud developed polycrystalline thin films solar cells of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (called CIGS) on very thin polyimide foils at the Thin Film Physics Group, Laboratory for Solid State Physics, ETH Zurich. A multilayer structure of about 4 micron thickness was grown with a combination of thin film deposition methods.  More at solarbuzz

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

2004 Investments in Renewable Energy set Record

World Changing today reported that according to a report released today (Download - PDF) by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, or REN21, global investment in renewable energy set a new record of $30 billion in 2004. That's a far, far bigger number than others have projected.  See the complete post here.

Duke Power Preparing COL for 2 Nuclear Reactors

Duke Power has announced that it is preparing a combined construction and operating license (COL) application for two Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 (AP1000) reactors at a site to be named following the conclusion of its current site selection study.  The COL application, which is expected to be submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission within the next 24-30 months, is part of the company's long-term generation planning process, and will allow Duke Power to keep new nuclear generation as an option for meeting its customer's future energy needs.

The AP1000 design is based on the same Westinghouse pressurized water reactor (PWR) technology that has been used in in numerous power plants around the world.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has set up a process by which reactor designs can be certified prior to any actual construction plans. The certification process seeks to reduce site development time by resolving design issues prior to construction. The AP1000's status in this process is "finalizing certification" which should fit in well with Duke's construction plans.  Design certification may occur simultaneously with site licensing or construction licensing. 

Discovery Promises Inexpensive LED Lights

Take an LED that produces intense, blue light. Coat it with a thin layer of special microscopic beads called quantum dots. And you have what could become the successor to the venerable light bulb.  Chemists at Vanderbilt University have discovered a way to make quantum dots spontaneously produce broad-spectrum white light.  In recent years LED's have begun to appear on the market that replace conventional light bulbs, but they have been quite expensive.  They are more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, last much longer and are very tough.  An accidental discovery could transform lighting production into a primarily chemical process with accompanying economies.  The easily produced quantum dots are mixed with a coating material, polyurethane, in the lab experiment, and coated on an inexpensive LED to make it a full spectrum light source. 

And so esoteric quantum dots could become part of a mainstream commodity.

Resource: "Quantum dots that produce white light could be the light bulb's successor", PhysOrg.com, October 20, 2005

More blogs about LEDs, quanturm dots, energy.

New Oilsands Exploration Begun

Oilsands Quest, as subsidiary of CanWest Petroleum Corporation has begun exploration that will identify quality and quality of bitumen of the companies resources on 846,000 acres of land in Northwest Saskatchewan, one of the largest land positions assembled for exploration in the Athabasca oil sands region.  Drilling of the first 25 core-holes is expected to begin in a few days.  This drilling represents the first phase of exploration to determine determine whether its lands adjacent to the Athabasca oil sands region in Alberta contain sufficient bitumen to justify development of the field.  The first phase, to be conducted between October and December is to be followed by drilling of approximately 125 holes during winter.

Extraction of bitumen from tar sands is one of of the more controversial methods of extending our oil resources.  The quantity is small compared to our total oil resources, but if it is economical and meets environmental standards, I will not argue against it.  The region's economy is highly dependent on this activity.  Production requires expenditure of about 30% of the energy contained in the resulting product, as well as questionable environmental impact.  All of the province's environmental requirements are being met, but are they sufficient?  Historically most of the energy has come from now declining supplies of natural gas.  I would be in favor of requiring the oil companies to get their energy from waste products or from their refined products, which has only been done to a limited extent in the past.  If there is truly stranded gas, gas that is uneconomical to pipeline, it is probably ok, but stranded gas should be defined so as not to be of use to the local economy now or in the future.

Resource: Oilsands Quest press release, Rigzone, Oct 14, 2005

More blogs about oil, tarsands, energy.

Bodman Proposes New Nuclear Power Rules

Energy Secretary Bodman has proposed new legislation to reduce the construction risk and to speed up licensing of four nuclear power plants that could be completed by 2014.  The laws would apply to four nuclear plants planned to be built using new designs by General Electric and Westinghouse.  The legislation would provide insurance against costs incurred because of regulatory delays and rules to make it harder to stop a plant from operating once it has been built.  See this article from the San Diego Union-Tribune for more details.

We will need a large number of electric power plants to be built in the future due to obsolescence and increased demand, regardless of any efforts to conserve or use of renewable energy.  While I prefer clean coal or IGCC plants with sequestration, they probably cannot be built fast enough to meet our requirements.  Besides we need to continue to develop other technologies on a reasonable basis as we will, for all practical purposes, run out of fossil fuels in 50-100 years.  While I have no strong objections to this legislation for the first four plants, it does set a precedent and must be written carefully too prevent it from being too lenient.  I realize there are some who think this is not possible, but now is the time to lobby for responsible legilation, not after the plants have been approved through a proper review process.

More blogs about nuclear energy, energy

Hybrid Locomotives for Union Pacific

The Union Pacific Railroad has ordered 98 diesel-electric hybrid RailPower road switcher locomotives for use in Texas. The locomotives are estimated to provide fuel savings of 20% to 40% with reductions in NOx and particulates of about 80%.  The locomotives are designed to reduce fuel usage in road and branchline switching operations where locomotives use up to three times the amount consumed by yard switchers.  Union Pacific will apply its recent $81 million dollar award from the Texas Emmisions Reduction Plan towards the purchase of these locomotives.

The locomotives are powered by large banks of batteries connected to the hybrid power-train. When the batteries start to become depleted, the clean-burning diesel engine kicks in to power a generator to recharge the batteries. The hybrid locomotives are the world's largest and heaviest hybrid vehicles in production.

This order is for 80 triple-genset and 18 twin-genset RP series switchers.  In August Union Pacific purchased 10 hybrid yard switchers for use in California from Railpower.  In March, the Canadian Pacific Railway said it would buy as many as 35 hybrid locomotives from RailPower over a four-year period.

Hybrid technology is ideal for locomotives, due largely to the absence of weight constraints.  Switchers are deliberately designed to be heavy to gain maximum traction and they operate in an inefficient 'stop-go' manner that is hard on the large engines of conventional units. Unlike traditional switching locomotives, the hybrid switchers have very small diesel gensets, large banks of long-life, recyclable batteries, and do not idle.

64 MW Solar Thermal Unit Moves Ahead

SHOTT North America announced on October 3 that they have received their first large volume order for solar receivers.  They will supply 19,300  receivers for the 64 MW plant to be built in partnership with Solargenix.  On September 21 Solargenix announced that it had secured power purchase agreements with utilities and approval from the Public Utility Commission of Nevada which allows them to complete development of Nevada Solar One, the largest solar power plant to be built in 14 years.  The plant is scheduled to begin delivering electricity in June 2007.

Solar thermal power plants use the thermal energy produced by the sun to generate electricity.  Also called a parabolic trough power plants, they consist of three main components: mirrors, receivers and turbine technology. Nine parabolic trough power plants are already located in the Mojave Desert in California, developed by DOE and now owned and operated by public utilities, which  produce a total of 354 megawatts of solar electricity. When these power plants were originally erected in California, SCHOTT also supplied high quality special glass tubes to cover and protect their receivers. In 2004, SCHOTT introduced a completely new receiver that offers substantially higher quality.

Resources:

Solargenix Energy, press release September 21, 2005
SHOTT North America, press release, October 3, 2005

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