The Energy Blog

MY06 PRIUS FLEET AVAILABILITY

I couldn't help but passing on this notice, via Green Car Congress, from Toyota about sales of the Prius to fleets.

Due to Toyota’s exceptionally low retail dealer days supply position and an anticipated increase in future retail Prius demand stimulated by the recent passage of the Federal Highway Bill (retail tax credits & HOV lane eligibility), Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc. is not in a position to accept MY06 Prius fleet production orders specific to government & rental fleets. This regrettable but necessary action is being taken as a result of the company’s need to address the extreme shortage of Prius availability at the dealer retail level.  Toyota Dealers are advised to suspend all MY06 Prius fleet sales solicitation and cancel all existing order agreements until further notice.  Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc. will restore Prius fleet availability to government & rental fleets once production volumes are sufficient to meet both retail and fleet order demand.

That's the greatest commentary on the public's reaction to high gasoline prices that I have seen.

Demand has grown to the point where Toyota plans to raise annual production of hybrids to 400,000 vehicles next year from 300,000 this year.  When is Detroit going to catch on.

More blogs about hybrid vehicles, vehicles, energy

Ethanol Efficiency Redux

Renewable Energy Access has a recent article, "Setting the Record Straight on Ethanol" advocating the efficiency of ethanol.  The article is written by Nathen Glasgow and Lena Hansen of the Rocky Mountain Institute who point out that enzymes now permit ethanol to be made from any cellulosic feedstocks and the advantages of this technology- growth on marginal land, higher energy yield per acre, and less energy input by the farmers because the crops are  perennials.  They refer to U.S. Department of Energy data which indicates that for every one unit of energy available at the fuel pump, 1.23 units of fossil energy are used to produce gasoline, 0.74 of fossil energy are used to produce corn-based ethanol, and only 0.2 units of fossil energy are used to produce cellulosic ethanol.  The first commercial-scale enzymatic reduction hydrolysis plant is scheduled to be built and operational by Iogen within two years, producing ethanol at a targeted cost of $1.30 per gallon.  They also have to take a swipe at Dr. Pimentel for his most recent attempt at rebuking ethanol.

Its worth a read by anyone who hasn't made up their mind on the energy efficiency of ethanol.

More blogs about biofuels, ethanol, alternative energy, renewable, renewable energy, energy

Doubts About Saudi Production Capability

A New York Times article questioned Saudi Arabia's ability to produce as much oil as they had claimed they would. The main points were:

Given:

The Saudi's pump about 9.5 million barrels, leaving a cushion of about 1.5 million barrels, mostly of heavier grades not very usable in the West. There is virtually no other global spare capacity.

Our official policy:

The administration has endorsed the Saudis plans to increase its oil production capacity. They rely on a few producers, especially Saudi Arabia, to adjust their production to keep prices within reason. In April, Prince Abdullah reaffirmed President Bush that they could meet previously announced expansion plans.

Concerns raised:

There are now doubts raised as to whether they can still fulfill their function of stabilizing prices and meeting production requirements or meet their expansion plans.

Oil Production Shortage Likely Sooner Than Expected

Petroleum Review regularly updates its listing of megaprojects, i.e., large projects, generally over 75,000 bpd, of oil production capacity. This can be used to quantify whether enough projects are being developed to meet projected demand.  Their latest update identifies 16.65 mbd of new capacity due to onstream by 2010.  This is made up of 6.34 mbd of OPEC capacity and 10.31 mbd of non-OPEC capacity.  In a long article in Global Public media (GPM), Chris Skrebowski, editor of Petroleum Review, one of the founders of the Association for the Studly of Peak Oil (ASPO) and member of the board of directors of the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC), uses this data to give his opinion on the balance between supply and demand.  If the author is right, oil peak occurred in 2004.  This in turn implies that prices will remain high and will increase even more in the future.

Five items are relevant to this analysis:

1. Another organization the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) has made an independent analysis of oil production, which gives a similar result for the total new capacity, but as pointed out by Econbrowser differs in many of the details, which his critique points out could influence the conclusions.
2. According to Skrebowski, experience has shown that between 10% and 20% of projects slip from one year to the next.
3. The small projects that Petroleum Review does not include could be significant.
4. Skrebowski's assumption of a 5% rate of depletion in countries that have passed the peak oil production is a very critical assumption.  His model of depletion was described as weak in the comments on the Oil Drum.
5. Note that the International Energy Associations projections that were used for oil demand were calculated based on a growth of 2% per year.  This is the historic growth rate, but demand has spiked recently.  Demand could also decrease if the price of oil remains high or increases even more due to a shortage.

His conclusions:

Qatar GTL Plant to Start Production 2Q 2006

"The $1bn Oryx gas-to-liquid (GTL) project at Ras Laffan, Qatar, the world’s first commercial GTL plant, will start production in the second quarter of 2006. Oryx GTL, a joint venture between QP (51%) and South Africa’s Sasol (49%), has an installed production capacity of 34,000 bpd of high-performance and low-emission diesel, high-grade naphtha and LPG. About 90% of the project work at Ras Laffan has already been completed. ... laid the foundation stone for the project in December 2003. ... the economic prospects for GTL fuels are excellent for two major reasons: the high quality of GTL products and a growing worldwide diesel market."

The worlds first commercial plant may be a bit misleading if correct, Shell, among others, has operating plants, this may be the first independent plant selling its products on the open market.  The plant uses natural gas for a feedstock, so it does not alleviate our depletion of natural gas and oil.  The main advantage of the process is that the products are much more easily shipped than natural gas which has to go through liquefaction, be shipped in special ships and then gasified at the other end of the shipment.  If GTL proves economical it could mean that the number of controversial LNG terminals could be reduced and risks of environmental damage reduced.

Resource: Gulf Times Newspaper - Qatar, Gulf and World News , Oct. 26, 2005

More blogs about fossil fuels, natural gas, energy

Lake Algae Confirm Global Warming

Another sign that global warming is here:

"ALGAL growth in remote Arctic lakes is confirming what ecologists suspected all along - that entire freshwater ecosystems are altering in response to climate change. Neal Michelutti and his colleagues at the University of Alberta in Edmonton collected 30-centimeter core samples from the bottom of six lakes on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. From levels of chlorophyll a in the sediment, which they measured using a technique called reflectance spectroscopy, they deduced that plant life in the lakes began to increase 150 years ago and is now growing almost exponentially year by year. The most likely reason for the change is climate warming, Michelutti says. ... Past experiments have failed to show a convincing link, either because they covered too short a geological period or because they were conducted in areas where human activity could have affected the results. The core samples contain 5000 year's worth of data from an area almost untouched by human activity."

Because the evidence is from such a long period of time in such a remote area it is hard to argue against the correlation between algae growth and the beginning of industrialization.  The time period is such that effects from cyclic weather patterns are eliminated.  Ice cores from Arctic regions do not contain evidence that is as easy to measure and the temperature rise in the atmosphere suffers from being taken over a short period of time.  I am hardly an expert, but this is convincing to me.  Its time we got serious about reducing CO2 emissions from our power plants.

Resource: Lake algae confirm global warming link, New Scientist, October 29, 2005

More blogs about environment

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. 

Solar Power as Viewed by an Investor

Solar Powered: An Emerging Growth Industry Facing Serious Growth Constraints as well as being a good examination of the silicon shortage (p 25-29) is an excellent review of the market and sales outlook for the PV solar market (p 20-27), a good introduction to the manufacturing process (p 29-31),  a brief solar technology review (P 32-37) and a in depth examination of two players in the non-silicon solar industry.  Prepared by Piper Jaffray it has been made available to the public in this 68 page pdf.  The review of solar technology is extremely good for anyone who needs a concise overview of the subject. 

They state, p 21: "With strong demand worldwide, we anticiapate the solar industry to achiee 24% annual growth through 2004.  We We anticipate that the polysilicon shortage will limit solar cell production through 2007 until significant new capacity comes online in 2008.  However, we anticipate that the non-silicon players will experience a higher, 34% annual growth through 2010."  Their analysis, p 23, concludes "Although the the demands remains robust, megawatt production growth will be capped at 5% in 2006 and 24% in 2007 due to the polysilicon shortage. ... Most module manufacturers have sold out through 2006.  ... We understand that polysilicon contracts are sold out for 2006 and 2007.  ...  we estimate that the non-polysilicon wafer solar market (including thin film and string ribbon) will grow production by 49% in 2006 and 52% in 2007.  Although non--polysilicon solar technologies ... have lower cell efficiencies we do not think that this will inhibit broad adoption.  The solar industry has become enamored of cell efficiencies ... what matters is cost per watt."  Later they go on to say "Technology improvements and cost reductions will make solar competitive.  We assume 5% cost reduction per year through 2010 and that module cost will be reduced to $2.50 per watt. (for silicon which, they state elsewhere, currently has 94% of the market) We believe the technology roadmap and cost curves are more aggressive for thin-film companies and anticipate module costs of $1.75 per watt in 2010. ... effectively reducing leveled solar electricity cost fro $0.35/kWh today to $0.21/kWh excluding subsidies. 

The report, although quite objective on most points, obviously leads up to their initiating coverage of Evergreen Solar Inc. (ESLR) and Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (Unisolar) (ENER) about which they say "Both companies are distinguished by proprietary technology for manufacturing lower cost solar power modules that, ultimately, even without subsidies, will be cost competitive with the grid.  Both companies posses unique technology that reduces or eliminates the need for polysilicon."  ESLR uses string ribbon technology and ESLR produces thin film triple-junction modules using a silane gas deposition process.

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

Lithium Ion Powered Car Has Range of 230 Miles

Electova, Mississauga Ontario, Canada, producer of lithium ion batteries and mobile products using their batteries, has introduced a zero pollution electric vehicle that sets new standards in range. The car was launched in Norway by Miljobil Grenland AS at the "China, Environment and Energy Conference".   Miljobil has a memorandum of understanding and initial purchase order with Electova to market the Maya100 and promote the business of zero-emission electric vehicle technologies in Norway and neighboring countries.  Green Car Congress reports that the car launched is not the Maya100, but a new prototype.  None the less, the car must be derived from the Maya100 which is described on Electrova's website as follows:

Electrovaya’s Breakthrough Zero-Emission Transportation

• Powered by the award-winning lithium ion SuperPolymer® battery
• Up to 230 mile / 360 km range
• Lightweight, with excellent handling and acceleration
• Proprietary lithium battery,-five times the energy density of lead acid batteries at less than one-third of the weight.
• Unique battery design allows for hill climbing, and cold weather operation.
• Top speed (regulated) of 140 kph / 80 mph
• The pure battery ZEV features very low maintenance costs and operating costs at less than a cent per kilometer.

An earlier post in Green Car Congress gives more details on the Maya100 and its battery system.

Resource:  Electrova, Mississauga, Ontario Canada

More blogs about electric vehicles, batteries, alternative energy, energy

Mobile Renewable Energy System

A renewable energy power station in a box is what SkyBuilt Power has and is continuing to develop.  The Mobile Power Station™ (MPS™) is a complete power station in a rugged shipping container utilizing almost any type of energy. It can operate with no fuel, using any combination of solar/wind/batteries and micro hydro power, and can also be configured to work with diesel, fuel cells or other fuel-based systems. The picture on the left shows a 20' x 8.5' x 8'-foot wide (MPS™) unit designed for rapid deployment of a fuel-less power system on display at the companies office in Arlington, Virginia. 

The MPS can be shipped by truck, rail, sea or airplane; even dropped from a plane via parachute.  A steerable wing-type of parachute can be guided by remote control to get it to an otherwise inaccessible location.  The small units can be set up by two men and running in hours, not days.  Using the heavy and rugged steel container as a base means that it is not necessary to pour heavy footings and install towers and guy wires to support the turbine, or hold solar panels steady against wind pressure. All the components are shipped in the container with the solar panels and/or wind turbines set up on preassembled supports and cabling at the site.  Batteries, if needed, remain inside the container. The container can be heated and cooled for climate-controlled and lighted storage, office, medical clinic, border patrol facility, telecom, operations/command control centers, or other secure, self-powered space in any environment from the desert to the arctic.

The Car that Makes its Own Fuel

Amnon Yogev, an retired Israeli professor from the Weizmann Institute and one of two founders of Engineuity, has invented a car that produces its own hydrogen fuel from light metals, such as magnesium or aluminum, eliminating all of the infrastructure required for making, transporting and storing hydrogen.  The inventor claims that when the cars become commercial, they will cost about the same as conventional cars and will be emission free.

A coil of the fuel - aluminum or magnesium - is fed into a device called a Metal-Steam combustor that will separate hydrogen out of water that is heated to a very high temperature.  The oxygen atoms will bond to the metal forming a metal oxide, freeing the hydrogen.  The hydrogen and the steam, which forms when the pressure in the 'fuel' line is reduced below that in the combustor, are sent to the engine where they are used to generate power.  My explanation: The steam will be superheated in the engine and returned to the Metal-Steam combustor to provide the heat needed to generate more hydrogen.  The waste metal oxide and remaining unoxidized metal would be removed from the combustor and collected for recycling at the fuel station where the coils of metal are purchased.

A drawback is that the amount of metal needed for fuel, to give the car the same range as a conventional car, weighs about three times as much as the gasoline it replaces.  The engine should be a minor modification of ICE's. They claim neither the purchase price or the running cost should be much different than conventional cars.  Engineuity plans on developing a prototype in three years if they are able to raise enough money from investors.

I don't believe its that simple.  Does it really work?  Can some of you bright young readers analyze the cycle and see if it can work?  How do you start the car?  Do you need a heater for the combustor and where do you get the energy to do that?  Can you produce some excess hydrogen and store it, that sounds expensive. How do you adjust the speed?  Somehow you must dump some of the heat produced in the engine I guess or can you throttle the hydrogen and design the combustor to take the high pressure that might result.  Can that be combined with the engine cooling system?  What is the response time of the system?  You have a volume in the combustor that might have to be heated and cooled to provide response.  What about the cost of the Metal-Steam combustor?  It must operate at a pretty high pressure and the pressure vessel then adds weight to the car.  I guess there is no exhaust system which saves a bit. I would think the price of the "feed metal" would go up with the price of energy, so there is not a great saving there, if any.  I have added some to the cycle description to clarify it, I hope I did it correctly.

Resource:  The Car That Makes its Own Fuel, IsraCast, October 24, 2005

More blogs about cars, hydrogen, energy

More Gasifier & IGCC Information

I ran across these links to presentations on gasifiers and IGCC, which I hadn't seen before and found them informative.  Eventually some of the info will be incorporated into a revision of the "About Gasifier" and "About IGCC" posts, but for now you will have to peruse them by yourself if you have any interest.  They were all found on a search for "Rocketdyne Gasifier" although they have much more information.  They are all quite recent, so all the better.

An outline of the content of each presentation follows:

Amazon Drought Linked to Hurricanes

The worsening drought in the Amazon has forced the Brazilian government to extend emergency warnings across the state.  The combined effects of global warming and deforestation have caused conditions of unprecedented significance.  The military has been activated to distribute supplies and medical aid to tens of thousands who have been impacted by the worst drought in Amazon history.

Fire may pose the biggest threat to the survival of the Amazon ecosystem. The Woods Hole Research Center has found that for every acre cleared and burned in the Amazon for cattle grazing or farming, at least another acre burns in ground fires under the forest canopy and/or is degraded by selective logging.  Deforestation reduces moisture in the air, increasing sunlight penetration onto land. It also prevents land and rivers from holding rain when it comes, causing excessive runoff and preventing the water table from increasing reserves.  Satellite images show that deforestation in the Amazon basin have been underestimated by at least 60%.  About 17% of the Amazon basin has been deforested over the past 30 years contributing to the drought condition.

It hasn't rained in the Amazon since August.  Many scientists believe hurricanes  affect weather in the Amazon because rising air in the north Atlantic, which fuels the storms, causes the air above the Amazon to descend, preventing cloud formation and rainfall.  Some scientists believe that global warming is the cause of the warmer water in the North Atlantic.  Previously droughts have been correlated to El Niños, the warming of waters in the Pacific, but this has not happened this year.

Dan Nepstadt, an ecologist from the Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Research Institute has commented on both of these explanations in several media accounts and has attributed both of them to being possible causes of the drought.

The military has been activated to distribute supplies and medical aid to tens of thousands who have been impacted by the drought. The drought which began in August has caused millions of fish to die in the tributaries that provide water, food and access to towns.  Low river levels have prevented residents from using boats, their only means of transportation, requiring government airlifts for their survival.  Four towns, with a population of 42,000, along with many smaller communities in the state of Amazonas, have been especially hard hit.

Resources:

"Amazon Drought Could Speed Climate Change", PeopleandPlanet.net, October 23, 2005
"Amazon Drought: Deforestation and climate change to blame", Environmental Data Interactive, October 21, 2005
"From Forest Fires to Field: How Forest Fires are Transforming the Amazon", NASA
"Amazon Drought Worst in Decades", Tech News, October 10, 2005
"Brazil Declares Disaster Areas in Amazon", CNN, October 10, 2005

More blogs about global warming, environment, deforestation

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

New Honda Fuel Cell Concept Car

The new Honda FCX fuel cell concept car has a 100 kW power system, a 350 mile range, operation at -20 F and a new more compact fuel storage system.  It is supplied with a new version of Honda's home energy system, powered by natural gas, that generates hydrogen, electricity and heat for water heating, that is claimed to reduce household energy consumption by 50%.

It sounds like a lot of progress in this type of car, but generating hydrogen from natural gas is not what we need.  No mention of price, its a concept car, but it sounds expensive. I'm still not convinced that hydrogen is the way to go.

Green Car Congress has its usual excellent write-up about the car.

More blogs about fuel cell cars, vehicles, hydrogen, energy

Bipolar NiMH Battery for CalCars Prius+ PHEV

Electro Energy Inc. (EEI), a leading provider of advanced battery technologies , today announced it is developing a custom-designed prototype battery pack for CalCars' Toyota PRIUS+ Test Vehicle, which is the centerpiece of the California Cars Initiative (CalCars) program promoting the commercial use and mass production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).  Ron Gremban, the lead technologist on CalCars' PRIUS+ project, stated, "Electro Energy's prototype pack ... is expected to improve average typical mixed-driving gasoline consumption and range performance to 90 mpg plus electricity for the first 40-50 miles after each charge, without compromising the Prius' original performance of 45 mpg."

Discussing the advantages and future of EEI's technology, Michael Reed, President and COO of EEI, said, "Electro Energy's bipolar design is based on flat wafer Ni-MH cells stacked together under pressure in sealed modules. This patented technique has resulted in higher power and energy densities for the Ni-MH chemistry and results in reduced weight, volume and costs, with increased performance. EEI intends to introduce this advanced technology to the automotive market for advanced hybrid and plug-in hybrid battery systems."  The attractive weight, volume, power, life, and cost of this design should make it a viable battery for many applications. EEI has supplied prototype bipolar nickel-metal hydride(BP-NiMH) batteries to various commercial and government customers. 

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Advancements

Stanford reseachers have come up with innovations to the solid oxide fuel cell which make it more attractive for use in cars.  The most significant drawback of current solid oxide fuel cells is their operating temperature; they typically operate at 1300 F (~700 C) which makes their use in cars unlikely.  One of the causes of high operation temperatures is the electolyte layer which, up to now, could not conduct negative oxygen ions without creating a lot of heat.

Stanford mechanical engineering proffessor Fritz Prinz and his collegues have improved the conductivity through the electrolyte layer—a membrane of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ)—by making it as thin as 50 nanometers.  The results are a fuel cell that operates at 750 F (~400 C) at the same power density as earlier solid oxide fuel cells operating at high temperatures.  His group has also improved the membranes conductivity by 34% by bombarding the membrane with positive argon ions and then heating the charged membrane to 1,470 F (800 C).  Apparently they have not combined the techniques, pehaps because the argon treatment may weaken the YSZ.

Promising Future for Biofuels

Science News Online has a great article reviewing the emerging technologies in the biofuels area which inspired me to write a similar post adding some of the technologies from The Energy Blog.  Many of them have been subjects of previous posts in The Energy Blog, but putting them all together puts a fresh perspective on the future of biofuels.  Despite the excesses that make up much of the Energy Act of 2005, advocates of biofuels should be fairly happy with provisions of the act that directly promote their agenda.  With the rising prices of oil products biofuels are about the only answer to augmenting our liquid fuels supplies, not to diminish the importance of the conservation benefits of more fuel efficient vehicles, plug in hybrids, electric vehicles and mass transportation.  Neither conservation efforts or biofuels alone can totally mitigate increasing prices, but without extreme efforts on both fronts supply and demand can do nothing but increase the price of fossil fuels. 

The Energy Act of 2005:

• Requires gasoline to contain 7.5 billion gallons/yr of renewable fuel by 2012, this is almost double the 4 billion gallons produced in 2004.
• Provides incentives for the production of renewable fuels from non-traditional sources;  plants, grasses, agricultural residues and waste products with greater credits for ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass or waste.
• Establishes loan guarantees and grants for the construction of facilities to convert municipal solid waste and cellulosic biomass to fuel ethanol and other commercial byproducts.
• Allows tax credits for alternative fuel vehicles
• A grant program is established for rural and remote communities to use biomass, landfill gas, and livestock methane,
• Provides for grants to those owning/operating a facility using forest biomass as raw material to produce electric energy, transportation fuels, or other petroleum-based substitutes.
• Calls for projects which address the production of hydrogen from biomass and biofuels.

ORNL published a report early this year that projected that we could get 30% of our liquid fuels from biomass without displacing any land used for crop production or grazing.  Government funding as provided in the Energy Act will be of great assistance in assuring that some of the technologies outlined below get developed and brought to the commercial market to allow attaining this goal.

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.

About Pebble Bed Reactors

A new (to the U.S.) and sometimes controversial nuclear reactor is the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR).  Proponents point out that the reactor is smaller, less expensive, cleaner and safer than other nuclear plants.  Pebble bed reactors offer the opportunity to reduce the complexity of the plant because the number of safety systems required is reduced significantly due to the inherent safety of the technology.  Rather than depending on the economics of scale to reduce cost, the economics of production volume and simplified design are used.  Opponents of nuclear power say it produces more nuclear waste than existing nuclear reactor designs.  Both sides of this discussion have valid points.

The PBMR is classified as a high temperature gaseous reactor (HTGR or HTR) because it operates at temperatures up to 900°C compared to an operating temperature of typically 340°C in pressurized water reactors (PWR), the most common type of reactor.  The higher temperature results in a higher efficiency, calculated to be up to 44%, about one-third more than conventional reactors . 

The reactor is hopper like vessell filled with graphite pebbles, each about 60 mm in diameter and filled with thousands of Uranium Oxide (UO2) fuel particles with diameters of less than 1 mm.  Each fuel particle is coated with two layers of pyrolytic carbon, silicon carbide, and porous carbon. The coatings retains the gaseous fission products.  Graphite in the form of pebbles or fuel rods is used as a moderator to control the reaction.  Heat that is generated by the fission reaction is transferred to the helium gas that flows through the reactor.  From the reactor the helium goes directly to gas turbines that convert the thermal energy in the gas into electricity.  The gas is then cooled, compressed and reheated before being returned to the  reactor.

Coal Resources

Coal is the second only to oil in fossil fuel consumption and is very likely to have a greater use in the future as oil and gas production decline. The International Energy Outlook 2005 projects that coal consumption, which increased in production by 7.2% from 2003 to 2004, will increase by 2.5% per annum until 2015 and 1.3 % per annum from 2015 to 2025.  The greater growth in the first period reflects the rapid growth of Asian economies during this time which are likely to slow down in the later period.  Asia's demand for coal is expected to be moderated by increasing use of natural gas from pipelines from the Caspian Sea area that are now under construction and those that may be built in the future.  EIA expects that their coal consumption will double by 2025, which will lower China's R/P considerably, indicating either increased imports, perhaps from the Russian Federation, or a shortfall in the following period.  In the short term EIA expects U.S. demand for coal to increase by 4.5% in 2005 and remain at 2005 levels in 2006.

COAL RESOURCE DATA

Location	Proved Anthracite & Bituminous Reserves	Proved Sub-bituminous & Lignite Reserves	Share of Total Re-serves	2004 Produc-tion	Change over 2003	Con-sump-tion	R/P ratio
	million tonnes	million tonnes	%	million tonnes oil equiv.	%	million tonnes oil equiv.
United States	111,338	135,305	27.1%	567.2	3.3%	564.3	245
Russian Federation	49,088	107,922	17.3%	127.6	2.2%	105.9	>500
India	90,085	2,360	10.2%	188.8	7.4%	204.8	229
China	62,200	52,300	12.6%	989.8	13.3%	956.9	59
Australia	38,600	39,900	8.6%	199.4	5.2%	54.4	215
South Africa	48,750	-	5.4%	136.9	2.2%	94.5	201
Leading Im	porter
Japan	359	-	-	0.7	-	120.8	268
World Total	478,771	430,293	100.00%	2,732	7.2%	2,778	164

Simple Concept for Wave Energy

Trident Energy is developing a simple wave energy system, the Direct Energy Conversion Method (DEMC) that uses the up and down motion of a buoy to cause a magnetic translator to move up and down along a coil to generating electricity.  The small British company based in Southend-on-Sea has tested a 1/5th scale model in a large wave tank and results indicate that a full scale model should be able to produce 100 kW.  The generators would be attached to a stationary platform in the ocean and buoys located below the platform would move with wave action.  A linear generator, which consists of an electrical coil, attached to the buoy, and a translator, consisting of a stack of magnets which would move up and down past the coil in a housing attached to the platform, generating an alternating electrical current.  No mechanical devices that are frequently used in wave generators to translate the wave motion to the rotary motion needed drive a conventional generator are required, thus greatly simplifying the units.

The feasibility of DECM's and the anticipated advantages and problems were the subject of a study by the University of Durham, which is refererenced below.  They concluded that

• a permanent magnet translator was desirable
• that the motor chamber did not necessarily have to be sealed
• the units must be installed in clusters (not single units), of at least four, in order to obtain a smooth electrical output
• the efficiency of the system is likely to be higher than hydraulic systems
• the system could be maintenance free
• the basis for a control system was outlined

The DECM's would be self protected against stormy conditions.  This is achieved by having a sensor that could detect storm conditions which would change the mode of the equipment from generators to motors.  The (now) linear motors would lift the floats out of the sea into protective chambers, where they would be held until the storm or adverse wave condition had passed. 

Following extended research, Trident Energy has been able to obtain energy conversion rates among the highest for any known marine energy device.  Trident is planning to build four full size generators as their next step.  They hope to test these generators at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney by the end of 2007.

The founder of Trident Energy Ltd, Hugh-Peter Kelly, is also the inventor of the Tubular Linear Motor / Generator that is being adapted for the wave generator. This is an internationally established product and was invented by him in the early 1980’s for use in the automation industry. (There are over 32,000 motors of this type in use world wide and a further 15,000 actuators.)

This sounds like a great idea, fairly obvious once it is explained.  A long way to go before commercialization.  I wish them luck.  I hope they do not limit themselves to 100kW generators.

Site revised 10/16/05 based on information obtained from website.

Resources:

Trident Energy, Southend-on-Sea, UK
"Comparative Study of Linear Generators and Hydraulic Systems for Wave Energy Conversion", University of Durham, 2001
"Swell magnet strokes support for wave power", News-Nature.com,  10/11/05

Technorati tags: ocean power, energy, alternative energy, renewable, renewable energy

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

Technorati tags: solar power, solar, renewable, renewable energy, alternative energy

Natural Gas Resources

Natural gas is projected to be the fastest growing component of world primary energy consumption in the EIA International Energy Outlook 2005.  Consumption of natural gas worldwide is projected to increase by an average of 2.3 percent annually from 2002 to 2025, compared with projected annual growth rates of 1.9 percent for oil consumption and 2.0 percent for coal consumption.  From 2002 to 2025, consumption of natural gas is projected to increase by almost 70 percent, from 92 trillion cubic feet to 156 trillion cubic feet. In 2004 world consumption of natural gas increased by 3.3% compared to the ten year average of 2.3%. This makes the EIA forecast sound a little conservative, but that depends on whether supplies can be developed to meet a higher demand.

Natural gas prices have gone up considerably recently and are expected to remain at or above present prices for the foreseeable future.  The EIA short term energy outlook released Oct. 12, 2005 forecasts an average U.S. residential natural gas price of $12.93 per thousand cubic feet.  This compares to $10.74 for 2004 and $9.51 for 2003.  The forecast for 2006 is $15.25.  These price increases have been exacerbated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, reflecting the sensitivity of prices to changes in supply and the price movements required to restore a balance between supply and demand.  The report states that "Complete recovery of energy infrastructure from hurricane damage will take many months. However, considerable recovery should occur by the end of 2005."  Incidental the same report forecasts the 2006 average price of West Texas crude to be $64-$65 per barrel and the price of gasoline to be $2.45.

The following table presents some of the more pertinent data for our natural gas resources.  It gives data on reserves, production and consumption of natural gas at the end of 2004.  Beyond the first six countries listed only the countries with production above 40 billion cubic meters are listed.  The table is sorted by rank in reserves.  All data was taken from the BP Statistical Review for 2004.   Several conclusions are fairly obvious from inspection of the data (combined with some data from the complete report.)    Discussion of these conclusions follows the table.  Not shown are the worlds reserves of 179,530,000 billion cubic meters with an annual production and consumption of 2,690,000 billion cubic meters for an R/P of 67.

NATURAL GAS DATA FOR 2004

Rank	Location	Proven Re-serves	Share of Total	2004 Produc-tion	Change over 2003	Con-sump-tion	R/P ratio
		Billion  cubic meters	%	Billion cubic meters	%	Billion cubic meters
1	Russian Federation	48,000	26.70%	589.1	1.80%	402.1	81.5
2	Iran	27,500	15.30%	85.5	4.90%	87.1	321.6
3	Qatar	25,780	14.40%	39.2	6.70%	15.1	657.7
4	Saudi Arabia	6,750	3.80%	64.0	6.60%	64.0	105.5
5	United Arab Emirates	6,060	3.40%	45.8	2.20%	39.6	132.3
6	United States	5,290	2.90%	542.9	-1.20%	646.7	9.8
Other	leading producers
8	Algeria	4,550	0.90%	82.0	-1.00%	21.2	55.4
12	Turkmenistan	2,900	0.30%	54.6	-0.90%	15.5	53.1
13	Indonesia	2,560	2.50%	73.3	0.70%	33.7	34.9
14	Malaysia	2,460	1.30%	53.9	4.00%	33.2	45.7
15	Netherlands	2,390	1.40%	68.8	17.90%	43.5	21.7
16	Norway	2,390	1.40%	78.5	7.30%	4.6	30.4
17	China	2,230	0.80%	40.8	18.50%	39.0	54.7
18	Uzbekistan	1,860	1.00%	55.8	4.10%	49.3	33.3
19	Canada	1,600	1.60%	182.8	-	89.5	8.8
27	Argentina	610	0.30%	44.9	9.40%	37.9	13.5
28	United Kingdom	590	1.20%	95.9	-6.70%	98.0	6.1

Clean coal isn't climate-friendly yet

A recent Reuters news article expanded on the discussion of environmental concerns relating to clean coal plant, especially IGCC plants.  Some salient points are:

• Since there is no requirement for carbon capture, plants are not being built with this feature.
• IGCC plants cost 20% more than conventional plants, but there are several government incentives that could offset this cost.
• Carbon capture boosts the cost of conventional plants 60%, but only boosts the cost of IGCC plants 25%.
• IGCC plants can remove 90% of mercury at 1/10th the cost of mercury removal in conventional plants.
• In the mid 90's not one utility had plans to build a coal plant, in the last 12 months 120 have been proposed, more than in the last 12 years.

The article is well worth the time to read.

Technorati tags: coal, environment, IGCC

Wave Energy Update

AquaEnergy Group, Energetech and The Manchester Bobber have come to my attention as three additional developers of wave power systems.

AquaEnergy Group is developing a wave energy converter called the AquaBuOY.  Clusters of these small, modular buoys would be moored several miles offshore where the wave resource is the greatest.  Energy transfer takes place by converting the vertical component of wave kinetic energy into pressurized seawater by means of two-stroke hose pumps. Pressurized seawater is directed into a conversion system consisting of a turbine driving an electrical generator. The power is transmitted to shore by means of an undersea transmission line. The AquaBuOY consists of four elements:

1. Buoy - A 30 ft long buoy, 15 feet of which is submerged, is used to support the system and keep it stable.
2. Acceleration tube - The acceleration tube is a vertical, hollow cylinder rigidly mounted under the body of the buoy. The tube is open at both ends to allow unimpeded entry and exit of seawater in either direction.
3. Piston - Positioned at the midpoint of the acceleration tube is the piston, a broad, neutrally buoyant disk.  When the buoy is at rest, the piston is held at the midpoint by the balanced tension of two hose pumps that are attached to opposite sides of the piston and extend to the top and bottom of the acceleration tube, respectively. 
4. Hose-Pump - The hose-pump is a steel reinforced rubber hose whose internal volume is reduced when the hose is stretched, thereby acting as a pump. The pressurized sea water is subsequently expelled into a high-pressure accumulator, and in turn fed to a Pelton turbine which drives a generator. Generated electricity is brought to shore via a standard submarine cable.

AquaEnergy is currently designing and permitting the Makah Bay (state of Washigton, USA) one megawatt demonstration power plant, with a goal of delivering power to the Clallum County Public Utility's grid by the end of 2006.

Energetech uses a parabolic wall to focus wave energy on to an oscillating water column (OWC) chamber.  The rising and falling motion of the waves causes an oscillatory water motion within the chamber, which in turn forces a high-speed airflow past a unique controllable turbine. The air flow past the turbine oscillates in the same manner as the water column requiring a turbine that can operate with this motion.  A control system senses the rising and falling of the waves and sends a signal to a 'Dennis-Auld' turbine which is designed to operate with an oscillatory flow. The turbine drives an induction generator to produce electrical power. 

Construction of the first 1 MW power plant, the Port Kembla (Australia) project, was begun in early 2004 and was initially installed in June 2005.  Initial tests indicated some minor improvements were required and the unit was brought back to shore for modifications.  During the time at the site, initial operation indicated that the chamber and design concept worked successfully and power was generated.  The modifications have been completed and a September report indicated the unit was back in operation.

Greenwave Rhode Island is a $3.5 million, 500 kw not-for-profit pilot Energetech project.  Operation is expected in 2006 and will continue for 3 years.  The states of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have contributed $1 million in planning and development funds to the project and it is being conducted in cooperation with the Universty of Rhode Island.

The Manchester Bobber, being developed by the University of Manchester, UK, generates electricity from the up and down motion of the ocean, no matter what the source; waves, tidal or current.  The advantages of this device are:

• All vulnerable componets are housed in protected environment located above sea level with easy access and readily available for maintenance, resulting in higher reliability.
• The 'Bobber' responds to waves from any direction with requiring any adjustment
• Each individual element of the 'Bobber' may be maintained independent of others in the group without interruption of the power generated in the group.

Phase one; design, development and testing of a 1/100th scale working model were completed in January 2005 and the phase two construction of a 1/10th scale model has been completed and testing was started in September 2005.  Phase three will involve a full scale prototype being constructed and tested in parallel with detailed costings and engineering design for the optimum full scale concept.

Resources:

AquaEnergy Group Ltd., Mercer Island, WA, USA
Energetech Australia Pty. Ltd., Randwick, Australia
"Manchester develops new wave energy device: The Manchester Bobber", U of Manchester press release, 9/5/05
Manchester Bobber: Technical Description, Manchester Bobber website

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

About Hydrogen Solar Tandem Cells

The Hydrogen Solar Ltd Tandem Cell™ is a self-contained unit which directly splits water molecules into high-purity hydrogen and oxygen using solar energy. It  significantly reduces carbon emissions by eliminating the fossil fuels normally used in electrolysis or steam reforming to produce hydrogen.

Now for an explanation of their system. A flow cell, through which the water electrolyte passes, is in the front of the stack, the light passes through this cell to the Tandem Cell™ which consists of two photo-catalytic cells in series: the front cell, coated with nano-crystalline metal oxide thin films, absorbs the ultraviolet and blue light from sunlight and oxygen is formed on the surface.  This cell does not generate enough voltage to split the water, so the electrons are connected to the back cell.  The longer wave-length green and red light pass through the front cell and are absorbed in the back dye-solar cell, increasing the potential of the electrons, which then flow to the hydrogen cathode where the hydrogen is formed. This is not the arrangement used in real modules, but illustrates the principle, if this arrangement were used, a transparent membrane would have to be placed in the water cell to separate the hydrogen and oxygen.  No external electricity is required. The process is renewable, produces no carbon dioxide or other emissions.

The cells are made from low cost materials.  The most expensive material used is the glass that the cells are made from.  The thin film semiconductors are iron or tungsten based rather than more expensive silicon materials. The process is now competitive, on the small scale, producing hydrogen at one third the cost than from PV solar panel-electrolysis systems.  On the large scale it was, mid 2004, about twice the cost of steam reforming with natural gas.

About Tidal Power

The tide moves a huge amount of water twice each day, and harnessing it could provide a great deal of energy.  Ocean currents are found along coastlines beneath the oceans surface at depths of 80 to 230 feet (25 to 70 meters) and with flow rates of 5 to 10 feet per second (two to three meters per second).  Horizontal or vertical axis turbines, much like underwater wind turbines, can be used to capture the energy from ocean currents or tidal flows.  They can be installed so as not to interfere with fishing or the passage of vessels.  The slow speed of the turbines does not interfere with aquatic life.

The potential for tidal power is large and a numerous potential sites have been identified.  However there are not nearly as many potential sites as there are for wave power.  The technology is so similar to that of wind turbines that it could be expected that a wind turbine manufacturer could jump into this market after it starts to develop.

The gravitational pull of the moon causes water to flow in from the ocean on the flood tides, and outward during ebb tides.  However, tides are totally predictable, so other power stations can be generating at times when the tidal station is out of action.  This energy source is independent of weather and climate change and follows the predictable relationship of the lunar orbit that is known many years in advance.  In order for this to work well, large changes in the height of tides are needed. 

Tidal dams are based on using a barrage, a damlike structure with openings allowing water to flow up and down an estuary as the tides move in and out.  They are located at a bay or estuary with a large tidal range.   As the tide flows in, water is allowed to flow up through openings in the barrage, into the estuary, then sluice gates on these opening are closed trapping the water above the barrage.  The sluice gates on the turbines are then opened, allowing the water to flow out through the turbine, generating electricity. 

About Wave Power

Unlike most kinds of renewable energy, wave power can produce power continuously.  Ocean waves represent a considerable renewable energy resource.  All of the energy is concentrated near the water surface with little wave action below 165 ft (50 meters) depth.  This makes wave power a highly concentrated energy source with much smaller hourly and day-to-day variations. The rising and falling of the waves off shore can be captured by several devices specifically designed for this purpose.

Wave power is perhaps the least intrusive of all the renewable energy technologies.  Wave power is very environmentally friendly.  It does not create any waste, does not have any CO2 emissions or criteria pollutants, there is no noise pollution, no visual impact and it does not threaten marine life.   Although the technology is limited to coastal locations its potential impact is large because of the large concentration of population along the coasts and the suitability of most coastal locations to the implementation of wave power.  Proponents claim that the energy cost for producing electricity via wave power will be competitive with conventional power within a very short time.

However, wave power technology is still in its infancy with many competing technologies.  The reliability of the devices for capturing energy from the waves has not been demonstrated on a very large scale.  Some devices are quite complex and may require quite a bit of refinement before they can be considered mature technology.  Wind power currently has the lowest cost of producing electricity of any of the renewable energy technologies and is the most successful technology, but it suffers from its intrusiveness, noise and danger to wildlife. 

Natural Gas Power Plant Converts to Renewable Energy

A natural gas fired cogeneration power plant in New York state is being converted to run exclusively on a renewable source.  Work has started to convert the 7 MW Laidlaw Energy Group plant so that it can run on wood chips to supply of electricity to the national grid as well as supplying heat and power to operate an on-site hardwood lumber dry kiln.

Aided by a $1m grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Laidlaw has completed the design and engineering for the project, procured the requisite equipment and entered into an agreement that provides for the fixed price construction of the project. The facility is expected to resume commercial operations midway through next year.

Is this a great sign of the times!  Natural gas is just too expensive and too scarce to be used for power generation.

Technorati tag: natural gas

New Developments Reduce Mercury Emissions, Extend Battery Life

PHYSORG.COM reported today that Lehigh University researchers have developed a cost-effective technique for reducing mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.  The reductions were reportedly achieved by modifying the physical conditions of power-plant boilers, including flue gas temperature, the size of the coal particles that are burned, the size and unburned carbon level of the fly ash, and the fly ash residence time. The modifications promote the in-flight capture of mercury.  See "Boiler modifications cut mercury emissions."

In another article they reported that researchers at the University of Wisconsin had developed tiny lithium ion batteries with a lifetime of 12 years for use in implantable medical applications.  Using organosilicon compounds, the team has developed a generation of rechargeable lithium ion batteries with lifetimes more than twice as long as current medical device batteries. See "New battery technology power for 12 years."

Technorati tags: coal, mercury, batteries

Gilberton Coal Liquefaction Project Moves Ahead

The Gilberton Coal Liquefaction Project took another step foreword when it was revealed that essentially all of the fuel produced by the plant would be purchased under an agreement with the state of Pennsylvania.  This follows an announcement in July that language in the Energy bill had authorized financing for the nation’s first clean coal-to-liquid fuel plant.  Previously Waste Management and Processors, Inc., (WMPI) had announced agreements with SASOL to use their Fischer-Tropsch liquefaction process and with Shell Global Solutions U.S. for possible use of their gasification technology.  In addition to Shell and SASOL the project team includes Nextant, a Bechtel Corporation affiliate and Uhde, an engineering company and Shell gasification technology supplier and contractor. Ground breaking is scheduled for next spring with operation to follow in 30 months.

A contract with DOE calls for construction of a $612,000, 5,000 bpd pilot plant financed by a $100,00 grant from DOE, loan guarantees from DOE, $47,000 investment tax credits from PA and revenue from sale of its products.  The pilot plant will use 4,700 tons of coal waste (referred to a anthracite culm) to produces 5,000 gpd of fuel and 41MWe of electric power. The transportation fuels produced will be in the form of ultra-clean high-cetane diesel fuel from the FT process and will contain no sulfur or aromatics. The gasifier and following emissions control system will remove contaminants from the plant’s vent to very low levels, below today's standards.  This stream will contain concentrated carbon dioxide which could be captured for sequestration, but funding for this was not included in this project. The gross plant efficiency is estimated to be about 45% based on the total energy input and considering the energy value of all of the plant’s products.

According to a Barrons article, John W. Rich president of WMPI, is talking about producing 2 million bpd by 2015.

A previous post describes the coal-to-liquids process.

Resources:

Gilberton Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Co-Production Project, Project Facts, DOE
Ultra Clean Fuels, Waste Management and Processors, Inc., Gilberton, PA, website
"Hold on to Your Gas Cap; Coal-Based Fuel Is Near", Barrons, 9/17/05

Technorati tags: coal-to-liquids, coal, energy, gasification,

Should we Recycle Nuclear Waste?

With the electrical energy consumption expected to double by 2050, we have to install a massive amount of generation capacity by that time.  Nuclear generation will most likely be part of the solution and then what to do with the nuclear waste then become an issue.  The best thing we could do is to conserve, but in my wildest imagination I cannot see conserving that much electricity.  That leaves three major sources of energy to draw from: renewable, coal and nuclear.  Natural gas cannot be used because of its expense and the fact that it probably will be depleting by that time, certainly the US reserves will be, and importing LNG in massive quantities is problematic.   I cannot see renewable energy contributing more than 20-30%.  That leaves nuclear and coal to be the largest contributors.  The EIA sees coal and nuclear remaining at about 50% and 20% respectively, of the total as they do today.  Recent posts on IGCC and environmental controls on conventional plants has shed some light on the problems with coal fired plants.  I want to refer you to an article that poses some strong arguments in favor of recycling nuclear waste rather than storing it in Yucca Mountain.

The author does not make any arguments that storing it is unsafe or impractical, rather that for less money we could recycle the waste and minimize the amount of raw uranium we would need to process.  The final price for the storage might be $100 billion.  He makes the case that recycling the waste, at a cost of $20 billion, into fuel would enable production of $1 trillion dollars worth of electricity.  He is talking about mechanical recycling not breeder reactors as I understand him. Nuclear waste is now recycled in France, Russia, Japan, and Great Britain with no apparent problems.

You will have to read the article for more of the details.  It does not address the environmental issues involved with either storage or reprocessing only some of the technology and the economics.  I am not really informed enough to have a strong opinion, but given that the storage facility is safe, the main problem is transporting the spent fuel to the facility is the my main concern.  I am of the opinion that we will need some nuclear power to meet our needs.  I would prefer coal in that I think the risks are less and even with sequestration the costs are likely to be less.  I don't want any comments on the merits or problems with nuclear power at this time, that is a later debate.

Resource:  "How Harry Reid can Save us &80 Billion and Fuel $1 Trillion in Electricity", Energy Pulse, 9/29/05

Technocrati tags: nuclear energy, nuclear power, energy, electrical power generation, electricity

AEP Moves Foreward on IGCC Plant

American Electric Power (AEP) signed an agreement with GE Energy and Bechtel Power on 9/29/05 to do the front end engineering design (FEED) on a 629 MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant.  AEP, the nation's largest electricity generator, would own and operate the plant, to be built at a site in Meigs County, Ohio.  The FEED process is expected to take 10 to 12 months. Procurement and construction would begin after certain milestones are achieved over the next year. Startup of the plant is targeted for 2010. This would be the first IGCC plant built in the US since Tampa Electric's Polk Power Station came online in 1996.

GE Energy and Bechtel Power had previously completed a scoping study for this project.

A recent post discussed the possibility of this project.

GE Energy press release, 9/29/05

Technocrati tags: IGCC, coal, energy, electric, power