The Energy Blog

FYI: Smith Electric Vehicles Orders Drive Components for 4,000 Vehicles

Enova Systems, Torrance, CA, has announced that it has received a production order and has begun delivering 90kW and 120kW electric drive components for in excess of 1,000 units during 2008, and as many as 3,000 in 2009 to Smith Electric Vehicles, in Vigo Centre, UK, a division of The Tanfield Group Plc. Tanfield also intends to start production of its commercial electric vehicles in North America during 2008.

Enova has supplied electric drive train components to Tanfield since 2006, to help produce high performance electric drive train systems for Smith Electric Vehicle’s zero emission vans and trucks. Smith utilises a 120kw electric drive system in the Smith Newton, the world’s first zero emission 7.5t - 12t truck. A 90kw electric drive system is installed in the Smith Edison, the world’s first all-electric sub-3.5t van.

A typical Smith Electric vehicle can achieve ranges of up to 150 miles between battery charges and speeds of 50 mph. Because they are zero emission, Smith Electric Vehicles are exempt from the London Congestion Charge and also qualify for free parking in parts of central London.

The electric truck market seems to be taking off.  When will electric cars really reach this level?

DOE announces $33.8 Million in Enzyme Research for Cellulosic Ethanol

Inexpensive cellulosic ethanol is essential for the development of liquid fuel products from non-food materials.  Several companies are already involved in building pilot plants or small commercial plants to produce cellulosic ethanol. (see cellulosic ethanol category for more information) One of the major cost constraints on the process is the cost of the enzymes used to convert these materials into sugars.  To this end the DOE announced four projects to conduct further research on enzymes.  The following is adapted from the DOE press release:

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Feb. 26 announced that DOE will invest up to $33.8 million, over four years, for four projects that will focus on developing improved enzyme systems to convert cellulosic material into sugars suitable for production of biofuels. Combined with industry cost share, up to $70 million will be invested in these projects, with a minimum 50 percent cost share from industry.

Cellulosic ethanol can be made from a wide variety of non-food materials, including agricultural wastes such as corn stover and cereal straws, industrial plant waste like saw dust and paper pulp, and energy crops such as switchgrass, specifically for fuel production.  By relying on a variety of feedstocks, cellulosic ethanol can be produced in nearly every region of the country, using material grown locally.  Though it requires a more complex refining process, cellulosic ethanol contains more net energy and results in lower greenhouse emissions than traditional corn-based ethanol.

Funding is subject to appropriations from Congress.  Selected projects include:

End in Sight for Silicon Shortage in Solar industry

Severe shortages of silicon have plagued the solar photovoltaic market over the past few years. According to a Frost & Sullivan press release a turnaround can be expected this year with polysilicon catching up with the demand . Quoting from the press release:

It was estimated that the demand for silicon feedstock neared 26,000 tonnes in 2004. In 2005 there was a rise in wafer production by nearly 7 per cent. However, this increase was not sufficient to keep up with the market need. In 2006 the shortage of feedstock reached a critical point affecting the production of solar panels and, consequently, the industry growth.

However, things are about to change. "We expect polysilicon supply to catch up with the demand already in 2008" – says Alina Bakhareva, Renewable Energy Programme Manager at Frost & Sullivan. "The majority of the new quantities will be supplied to the market by top 4 producers that are expanding their existing production capacities."

In fact, four top polysilicon producers are expected to add more than 17000 tonnes of capacity in 2008. This would represent over 50% increase over their current capacities.

On the demand side, demand from the semiconductor industry is expected to grow at steady one-digit rates. Demand for solar-grade polysilicon is expected to reach over 50% of the total demand for high purity silicon in 2008-2009.

This should bode very good news for the silicon solar PV cell manufacturers. With silicon supply no longer a constraint manufactures can ramp up production to meet demand and as a market driven supply chain develops the price of silicon should eventually settle out at a lower price. Then competitive prices and technical merits can let consumers choose what type of cells they prefer, rather than having to use what is available.  This more importantly means that solar PV can be a significant (10s of gigawatts) source of renewable energy in a shorter time period -- perhaps in as short as five years.

EU Research Shows that Hydrogen Energy Could Reduce Oil Consumption in Road Transport by 40% by 2050

The EU HyWays project has released its main report "European Hydrogen Energy Roadmap" The "Roadmap" analyzes the potential impacts on the EU economy, society and environment of the large-scale introduction of hydrogen in the short- and long- term (up to 2050). A few excerpts from the press release announcing the report follow:

The scientific project HyWays funded by the EU's research program has found that introducing hydrogen into the energy system would reduce the total oil consumption by the road transport sector by 40% between now and 2050. Substantial barriers have first to be overcome, ranging from economic and technological to institutional barriers, and actions must be taken as soon as possible. Following a series of more than 50 workshops the project has produced a Roadmap to analyze the potential impacts on the EU economy, society and environment of the large-scale introduction of hydrogen in the short- and long- term, as well as an action plan detailing what needs to be done for this to take place. The report is published as the Member States are due to give their approval of a new €940m public/private research partnership for the development of hydrogen and fuel cells.

The extensive and high-quality simulations of the project predict that the break-even point would be most likely reached between 2025 and 2035. The HyWays Roadmap estimates that in 2030 there will be 16 million hydrogen cars and the total cumulative investment for infrastructure build-up will amount to €60 billion.

I am still not a convert to the hydrogen economy, especially for use in transport vehicles.  I believe that economical plug-in vehicles and electric vehicles can be produced at less cost before the 2025-2035 time period that is cited and by 2050 should be able to reduce oil consumption by significantly more than 40% with biofuels providing a significant reduction in fuel consumption of light vehicles, which is not an option with fuel cells. The development of a low cost fuel cell for transportation is a major technical challenge in itself, let alone the infrastructure required to distribute the hydrogen. I admit that good progress is being made on these items, but why should we have two major projects going when it is clear that one can be economically developed in a shorter time. The EU certainly can proceed independent of the U.S. and Japan, but it seems such a waste to do so. Hydrogen from natural gas or by electrolysis seem to me to be a waste of fossil fuels and/or inefficient use of electricity. Hydrogen may have a place in power production and other large stand-alone projects where a hydrogen transportation infrastructure does not have to be developed.  This should be the first area that is developed. 

Yergin: Climate Change and Energy are Converging into New Era of Clean Energy

The sometimes outspoken Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) and executive vice president, IHS Inc., spoke at the 2008 National Governors Association (NGA) Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 23. Some of his remarks may be of interest to readers of TEB.

“High energy prices, climate change and energy security are converging as the new engine driving the development of clean energy, There is a major shift in public opinion towards clean energy, which is being bolstered by the growing conviction that new carbon policies will reshape the competitive landscape of the global energy business.”  . . .

Citing CERA’s new study, Crossing the Divide: the Future of Clean Energy, Yergin said that renewable power and biofuels could be supplying as much as 16 percent of the global electric and transportation needs by 2030.  . . .

On current oil prices, he added, “A major reason for the current leap to around $100 a barrel is the economy – but now a weak U.S. economy, rather than the strong global economy that has been so important the last few years. A slowing U.S. economy, rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and expectations of more, and a weak U.S. dollar – along with the reappearance of inflation around the world – are driving investors into oil and other commodities. Instead of the traditional ‘flight to the dollar’ during times of uncertainty, we are seeing a ‘flight to oil.’”  . . .

Two of his key insights from the Crossing the Divide study may be of special interest to readers:

Renewable power technologies are poised for substantial growth – Wind will make the largest gains, followed by solar power and biomass — despite near-term bottlenecks in wind turbine manufacturing, supply shortages in silicon and competitive pressures from escalating component costs.

Conventional emission-free technologies – Nuclear and hydroelectric generation will account for most of the clean energy impact for the next decade, and almost half the gross clean power additions by 2030. The coal resource base and utilization in the United States and China will create a powerful drive to develop “clean coal” technologies.

Bank of America to Assess Cost of Carbon on Loans to Utility Companies

The banking industry is taking an increasing interest in green energy and carbon emissions, in lieu of the Federal government not taking any action. Because of this failing, the Bank of America has decided to start assessing the cost of carbon in their risk and underwriting processes for loans to power companies, currently estimating the cost of carbon will fall between $20-$40 per ton of carbon dioxide, anticipating that either a carbon tax will be assessed in the future or that CCS will be required at some point. This follows the establishment of the Carbon Principles, which established guidelines for banks to use in considering the risk factors in making loans to power companies, as announced by a consortium of banks on Feb. 4.

This action effectively acts as a carbon tax and will raise the cost of electricity from power plants emitting carbon to a cost that will give renewable energy a fairer playing field.  This action could increase the spread between the cost of electricity made from nuclear power and coal power, considering that nuclear does not produce any carbon due to the operation of their plants. While I support Gen III+ nuclear (the next generation of nuclear plants), I also believe that the direct and indirect subsidies that the government gives nuclear plants should be eliminated (not much chance of this happening though), which would probably bring coal plants with CCS back into more favorable economics as compared to nuclear.

This action should help clear up the logjam that has been developing regarding construction of new coal fired plants. Because the procedures for approval of Gen III+ plants have not been ironed out, it will still take an extended period to get the first few of these on line. Also the nuclear industry has said that it will not build additional plants until the first 6-8 of these plants are in operation. Thus coal plants will probably start being built again in the not to distant future.  Wind power is near the point where their manufacturing capacity is significant and this should keep their growth rate growing strong.  Solar has many years (5-7) before their capacity could reasonably be expected to be significant and their costs reduced, so the immediate impact on them is nil -- still waiting for more silicon capacity and thin-film technologies to be more developed. However these factors have not kept solar from growing at a high pace.   

In a speech at the Feb. 12 North Carolina Issues Forum Ken Lewis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America made the following statements outlining his banks position on this subject: 

Emissions from Photovoltaic Life Cycles

A new report has found that thin-film cadmium telluride solar cells have the lowest life-cycle emissions primarily because they consume the least amount of energy during the module production of the four types of major commercial PV systems: multicrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon, ribbon silicon, and thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe).

The study, published in the Environmental Science & Technology journal, based on PV production data of 2004–2006, presents the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, criteria pollutant emissions, and heavy metal emissions of the four types of PV systems considered. Life-cycle emissions were determined by employing average electricity mixtures in Europe and the United States during the materials and module production for each PV system.

They found that thin-film cadmium-telluride solar cells had the best life-cycle profile. Even though the process emitted  heavy metal cadmium, it still had a lower overall level of “harmful air emissions” than the other PV technologies in the study.

The report stated that "Overall, all PV technologies generate far less life-cycle air emissions per GWh than conventional fossil-fuel-based electricity generation technologies. At least 89% of air emissions associated with electricity generation could be prevented if electrity from photovoltaics displaces electricity from the grid."

The fact that Cd-Te technology was found to have the lowest emissions profile is interesting, but the main point, to me, is that all technologies had low emissions profiles, that are insignificant when compared to the emissions of the fossil fuel technologies that they replace. While I do not find it suprising that all solar PV systems have a low emissions profile, I find it suprising that the authors did not include thin-film silicon or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) cells in their study.  I assume the overall results would have been the similar, but it woud have given a fairer comparison to the technologies now in use.  One problem with scientific research is that it takes so much time to do the study and get it published that by that time the information is made public it is sometimes outdated.

DOE Enhanced Geothermal Systems Projects

In a move that I greet with great enthusiasem DOE has embarked on a project with a number of partners to test Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technologies at a commercial geothermal power facility near Reno, Nevada.

EGS technology enhances the permeability of underground strata, typically by injecting water into hot underground strata at high pressure. The concept was initially developed to create geothermal reservoirs in hot underground strata where no water existed—a technology called "hot dry rock"—but has since been extended as a means of enhancing the performance of existing geothermal reservoirs.

Under the DOE project, EGS technology will be tested in a well at the 11-megawatt Desert Peak facility, which is owned by Ormat Technologies, Inc. The well is currently not able to produce commercially useful quantities of hot geothermal fluid, but with the help of EGS, the site is thought to have the potential to produce 50 megawatts of power or more.

Meanwhile, an application of EGS in a true hot dry rock application in Australia is continuing to make progress. Geodynamics, Limited (ASX: GDY) announced on February 5th that the company has completed its production well, called Habanero 3. The Company is now moving forward with preparations for an open circulation test, planned to commence 10 to 14 days from the date of the announcement, by injecting water into Habanero 1 and removing the heated geothermal water from Habanero 3. The test should give the company an indication of the potential power production of the artificially created geothermal reservoir.

AE Biofuels Builds Integrated Cellulose Ethanol Commercial Demonstration Plant

Another company is entering the Cellulosic ethanol market place with the announcement that AE Biofuels, Cupertino, CA, has begun construction of an integrated cellulose and starch ethanol commercial demonstration facility in Butte, Montana. The plant will use proven patent-pending Ambient Temperature Cellulose Starch Hydrolysis (ATCSH) enzyme technology to optimize process conditions for multiple feedstocks. Non-food ethanol feedstocks used by the facility are expected to include switch grass, grass seed straw, small grain straw, and corn stalks alone and in combination with a variety of traditional starch and sugar sources. The 9,000 square foot pilot plant facility is expected to be fully operational in the second calendar quarter of 2008.

In 2007, AE Biofuels™ acquired enzyme technology from Renewable Technology Corporation and formed its ethanol technology subsidiary, Energy Enzymes. The company’s low-cost, multi-activity enzyme technology is designed to reduce operating and capital costs for both cellulosic ethanol and starch ethanol plants and provides a platform to integrate the two processes. AE Biofuels utilizes patent-pending ambient temperature enzymes to eliminate the up-front “cooking” process that occurs in traditional starch ethanol production. The company has three patents pending for the use and implementation of its technology.

The key to the integrated process is AE Biofuels’ patent pending ATSH process. The ATSH converts starch to sugar without the cooking step of conventional corn plants. ATSH enzymes convert the raw starch to sugar at ambient temperatures. Eliminating the cooking step allows the beer from the cellulosic fermentation process to be used as the starch process water, increasing the overall alcohol concentration of the final beer and reducing water use, energy use and feedstock costs.

This technology is a endorsement of enzyme technology as a viable means of producing cellulosic ethanol, if it meets the companies claims.  The elimination of process steps, low cost enzymes and reduced cooling water consumption are all keys to lower cost cellulosic ethanol.

FYI: Abengoa to Build 280MW Concentrating Solar Power Plant in Arizona

Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) announced plans that Abengoa Solar will build the Solana Generating Station, a 280-megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power (CSP) plant, 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, near Gila Bend, Ariz.

Solana will employ technology that can both produce and store energy during the day, and then provide that energy for use by APS customers across periods of peak demand. APS will purchase 100 percent of the plant’s energy output. The plant will employ a proprietary Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) trough technology developed by Abengoa Solar, and will cover a land area of around 1,900 acres. The technology uses parabolic mirrors that track the sun on one axis and focus solar energy on receiver tubes containing a heat transfer fluid. The hot heat transfer fuild is used to convert water into steam, which turns the plant’s turbines to create electricity. The solar plant will also include a thermal energy storage system that allows for electricity to be produced as required, even after the sun has set.  . . . more

The selection of parabolic trough technology for this plant is evidence that it still the most proven technology and the only technology for which energy storage technology has been demonstrated.

FYI: Zenn Still Planning on EEStor

ZENN (TSX: ZNN) the Canadian manufacturer of low speed electric car vehicles has a statement in its first quarter 2008 report that they anticipated EEStor technology being commercialized and is making plans to incorporate it into its products. In addition ZENN is invstigating longer-range highway capable vehicles both as a retrofit for certain existing automobiles and producing small to midsize cars that have a top speed of 65 to 75 MPH (105 to 120 KPH) and a single-charge range of 200 to 400 miles (325 to 650 Km).

This indicates that they must still believe that EEStor's potentially disruptive technology for unique capacitor based energy storage systems is progressing to the point that they are willing to expend time designing their vehicles to use EEStor's systems, although they did not indicate when such vehicles will be available. See this post and this one for more information on EEStor.

Thanks for the tip from Tyler of Clean Break

Syntec Cellulosic Ethanol Sets Price Record

Syntec Biofuel Inc (OTCBB: 'SYBF'), a company developing biomass to fuel conversion technologies, announced that it has achieved a yield of 105 gallons of alcohol (ethanol, methanol, n-butanol and n-propanol) per ton of biomass. This marks a major milestone for Syntec as this yield is equivalent to revenues in excess of $27 million per year for a 300 ton per day biomass processing facility. Syntec's technology is based on thermo-chemical conversion of syngas, produced by gasifying biomass, and passing the gas over the catalysts in a fixed bed reactor.  This process is similar to producing methanol which is an established and well known technology.

“We are consistently seeing monthly improvements in our Biomass to Alcohols (B2A) Process. This level of achievement makes the B2A process profitable in relatively small scale facilities using a wide variety of waste biomass feedstocks in any combination.”

-- Michael Jackson, President of Syntec Biofuel Inc.

The Syntec B2A technology,is focused on second-generation cellulosic ethanol production. Syntec’s innovative technology uses any renewable waste biomass such as hard or soft wood, sawdust or bark, organic waste, agricultural waste (including sugar cane bagasse and corn stover), and switch-grass to produce syngas.

Historic Data Suggest Geosequestration of CO2 Safe

Alpha Galileo reports that a new study has revealed that storing carbon dioxide beneath the earth may be a safer and longer term method of reducing emissions in the atmosphere than previously thought. Researchers at the University of Manchester found that carbon dioxide (CO2) has been naturally stored for up to 40 million years in CO2 gas fields in the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains of the USA. The researchers took CO2 samples from five natural gas fields and measured their noble gases. Their findings allowed them to ‘fingerprint’ the Colorado CO2 for the first time. “The results show that the gas in the fields has been released from molten magma within the Earth’s crust. In all of these fields, the last time the magma melted and CO2 was released was more than eight thousand years ago. In three of the fields, it last occurred over a million years ago, and in one it was at least 40 million years ago. This proves that the CO2 has been stored naturally and safely in the earth for periods between eight thousand years and 40 million years. We hope this study will pave the way for selection of similar safe sites for storage of CO2 from power plants in both the UK and abroad. Underground CO2 storage, in the correct place, should be a safe option to help us cope with emissions until we can develop cleaner energy sources. A suitable storage place for the UK could be in the North Sea, where similar rocks to those in the gas fields can be found.” Dr. Stuart Gilfillan, the researcher running the project

The Case for Investing in Energy Productivity

McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) reports that an additional annual investment in energy productivity of $170 billion through 2020 could cut global energy demand growth by at least half—the equivalent of 64 million barrels of oil a day or almost one and a half times today’s entire U.S. energy consumption.

MGI research suggests that the economics of investing in energy productivity—the level of output we achieve from the energy we consume—are very attractive. With an average internal rate of return of 17 percent, such investments would generate energy savings ramping up to $900 billion annually by 2020. . . .

Moreover, the opportunities to boost energy productivity use existing technologies that pay for themselves and therefore free up resources for investment or consumption elsewhere.

MGI has put a figure on how much it would cost and how much "energy productivity" could reduce our energy consumption and corresponding green house gas (GHG) emissions which, by there reasoning, is affordable. Because none of this investment is in renewables the effect of these technologies on GHG emissions is in addition to the energy savings.

Thanks for tip from Richard Stubi of Cleantech Blog

Volt Price Tag to Escalate Initially

GM has confirmed reports that the first Chevy Volts will cost $35,000 not the $30,000 that they had claimed previously.

Canada.com first published the report, that includes the following statements:

GM has found it can't re-engineer features such as windshield wipers and high-powered audio systems fast enough for the all-electric car, so it will be forced to put expensively redundant systems into the first-generation Volt.

The redundant systems will be eliminated later, probably in the second generation of the Volt, after engineers have had time to rework them for the new world of electric propulsion. "It's starting to look like it's going to be close to $35,000," Dee Allen, a spokesman for GM, said of the first-generation Chevy Volt.

In a later post Wired confirmed these statements, and quoted Allen as saying ". . . if it comes in closer to $35,000 and it means meeting the 2010 deadline, that's the direction we're going to go."  Wired also added air conditioning to the list of accessories adding to the cost. Wired also made this statement:

GM has no doubt it will solve the problem, but not in time to meet the 2010 deadline. The first-generation Volts will have workarounds GM called "redundant systems." Allen couldn't tell us anything more about that, but said second-generation Volts will be "more refined."

It seems to me that knowing how much energy these systems would use and from what source it would come should have been a basic part of the design concept, which leads to the thought that GM has not been as forthcoming as they implied.  Air conditioning and wipers should be standard features in a modern car. A 10 speaker audio system should be an option in my thinking. I wouldn't need such a system for my commute to work or for someone to drive around town shopping, which would be two of the main uses for the Volt. And I would think that most of the initial buyers would be more concerned with economy rather than creature comforts.  I know many people desire such an option, but perhaps it should be a feature that reduces the 40 mile range or becomes a relatively expensive option. I didn't realize that wipers used much power. Would an extra battery solve the problem for air conditioning and wipers? The direct cost for an additional Li-ion battery should be around $1,500. But then maybe the gas engine isn't quite large enough . . .   

New Materials Can Isolate and Capture CO2 More Efficiently with Five Times More Density than Current State of the Art

UCLA scientists have demonstrated that they can successfully isolate and capture carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, rising sea levels and the increased acidity of oceans. Their findings could lead to power plants efficiently capturing carbon dioxide without using toxic materials.

The carbon dioxide is captured using a new class of materials designed by Omar M. Yaghi, UCLA's Christopher S. Foote Professor of Chemistry and his group, shown above, called zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, or ZIFs. These are porous and chemically robust structures, with large surface areas, that can be heated to high temperatures without decomposition and boiled in water or organic solvents for a week and still remain stable.

"Now we have structures that can be tailored precisely to capture carbon dioxide and store it like a reservoir, as we have demonstrated. No carbon dioxide escapes. Nothing escapes — unless you want it to do so. We believe this to be a turning point in capturing carbon dioxide before it reaches the atmosphere."

-- Omar M. Yaghi

Currently, the process of capturing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants involves the use of toxic materials and requires 20 to 30 percent of the plant's energy output, Yaghi said. By contrast, ZIFs can pluck carbon dioxide from other gases that are emitted and can store five times more carbon dioxide than the porous carbon materials that represent the current state-of-art.

Sandia, Stirling Energy Systems Set New World Record of 31.25% for Solar-to-Grid Conversion Efficiency

On a perfect New Mexico winter day — with the sky almost 10 percent brighter than usual — Sandia National Laboratories and Stirling Energy Systems (SES) set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record by achieving a 31.25 percent net efficiency rate. The old 1984 record of 29.4 percent was toppled on SES’s “Serial #3” solar dish Stirling system at Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility.

The conversion efficiency is calculated by measuring the net energy delivered to the grid and dividing it by the solar energy hitting the dish mirrors. Auxiliary loads, such as water pumps, computers and tracking motors, are accounted for in the net power measurement.

Each dish unit consists of 82 mirrors formed in a dish shape to focus the light to an intense beam onto a receiver, which transmits the heat energy to a Stirling engine. The engine is a sealed system filled with hydrogen. As the gas heats and cools, its pressure rises and falls. The change in pressure drives the pistons inside the engine, producing mechanical power, which in turn drives a generator and makes electricity.

Georgia Tech: CCS from Vehicles with Carbon Recyle = Zero Emission Car

Georgia Tech abridged press release:

The Georgia Tech team’s goal is to create a sustainable transportation system that uses a liquid fuel and traps the carbon emission in the vehicle for later processing at a fueling station. The carbon would then be shuttled back to a processing plant where it could be transformed into liquid fuel. Currently, Georgia Tech researchers are developing a fuel processing device to separate the carbon and store it in the vehicle in liquid form.

Georgia Tech’s near-future strategy involves capturing carbon emissions from conventional (fossil) liquid hydrocarbon-fueled vehicles with an onboard fuel processor designed to separate the hydrogen in the fuel from the carbon. Hydrogen is then used to power the vehicle, while the carbon is stored on board the vehicle in a liquid form until it is disposed at a refueling station. It is then transported to a centralized site to be sequestered in a permanent location currently under investigation by scientists, such as geological formations, under the oceans or in solid carbonate form.

In the long-term strategy, the carbon dioxide will be recycled forming a closed-loop system, involving synthesis of high energy density liquid fuel suitable for the transportation sector.

Georgia Tech settled on a hydrogen-fueled vehicle for its carbon capture plan because pure hydrogen produces no carbon emissions when it is used as a fuel to power the vehicle. The fuel processor produces the hydrogen on-board the vehicle from the hydrocarbon fuel without introducing air into the process, resulting in an enriched carbon byproduct that can be captured with minimal energetic penalty. Traditional combustion systems, including current gasoline-powered automobiles, have a combustion process that combines fuel and air — leaving the carbon dioxide emissions highly diluted and very difficult to capture.

Mitsubishi Unviels New "I MiEV"

Mitsubishi Motors Corp has unveiled the newest version of the electric vehicle, "i MiEV," with a longer cruising range than the previous model and a new Li-ion battery .

Mitsubishi aims to launch mass-production of electric vehicles in 2009. And, in this field test, the company plans to investigate such issues as the "preferable length of time for charging from the viewpoint of users" and "compatibility with rapid rechargers under development by electric companies."

Two major improvements in the new test vehicle are the adoption of new Li-ion rechargeable battery and the cruising range extended from 130 to 160km in the 10-15 Japanese test cycle. The longer range was achieved by a more efficient redesigned motor, improved regeneration capability, lower rolling resistance tires, the control system, and reduction in the size and weight of the components in consideration of mass production.

A new Li-ion battery produced by Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture of Mitsubishi Motors, GS Yuasa Corp and Mitsubishi Corp will be used for the first time. Lithium Energy Japan plans to produce 200,000 cells (equivalent to the demand for 2,000 units of electric vehicles) in the FY2009. (2010 was forecast in earlier announcements as the expected date of production) The performance of new battery is the same as that of its predecessor, made by Litcel, but with added safety features.

ZeaChem Announces Poplar Tree Feed Stock Agreement for High Yield, High Efficiency Bio-Refinery

ZeaChem, Inc. and GreenWood Resources, Inc. (GWR), on behalf of GreenWood Tree Farm Fund, LP ("GTFF")  announced Monday the signing of a non-binding Letter of Intent to supply poplar tree (aka Pacific Albus) feed stock under a long-term agreement to support the operation of an initial 1.5 million gallon per year (GPY) ZeaChem cellulosic Bio-Refinery located near GTFF's Boardman, Oregon Albus tree farm. Initial engineering for the site has already begun.

We look forward to working with ZeaChem as it commercializes its process and believe it sets the stage for the development of future short rotation poplar biomass energy tree farms integrated with emerging technologies for converting to ethanol.

-- Jeff Nuss, President and CEO of GWR

The company is pioneering biorefinery technology using combinations of biochemical and thermochemical processing steps. Unlike other processes, the Zeachem process uses all fractions of the plant - cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, giving it much higher yield.

The biochemical processing step converts fermentable sugars in the cellulosic biomass into acetate, which is then recovered from the broth as an ester. The thermochemical processing step converts lignin and other non-fermentable materials in the cellulosic biomass into hydrogen. By combining these two streams in a hydrogenolysis reaction, ZeaChem produces ethanol. Unlike other processes, the Zeachem process uses all fractions of the plant - cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, giving it much higher yield.

Plans Announced for a Wave Power Plant in Hawaii

Oceanlinx, an Australian wave energy company, announced plans for a $20 million project to install three floating wave energy converters (WECs), i.e. wave-powered turbine platforms, to supply up to 2.7MW of electricity to the island of Maui, Hawaii. The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Renewable Hawaii, Inc. (RHI), for potential passive investment in a project . RHI is owned by the Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

The project could be operational by the end of 2009.

Oceanlinx’s unit combines the established science of the Oscillating Water Column (OWC) with its own patented turbine technology, and has successfully completed a full scale trial at its pilot unit at Port Kembla, Australia.

Each WEC is about 65 by 100 feet and 15-25 feet high and will not likely affect views from land.

EPRI, INL Announce Plan Focused on Near-Term Increase in Nuclear Energy Production

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) today announced the public release of a joint INL/Nuclear Power Industry Strategic Plan for Light Water Reactor (LWR) Research and Development.

More evidence that the nuclear energy renaissance is coming is indicated in this announcement. What I thought was a discrepancy between two statements in the press release, one stating that the first strategy is to efficiently construct and operate dozens of new nuclear power plants, starting in the next several years and that to do this (these) strategies will require significant investment in research and development. The Plan actually states:

"A consensus has emerged (between DOE and NRC) that we are probably adequately prepared for modest growth in nuclear energy, but poorly prepared for large scale expansion."

which clarifies there actual stance. This announcement appears to be nothing more than a continuation of R&D on LWRs which the government had nearly dropped and now feels necessary to continue, and makes the case that the nuclear industry

requires the active engagement and leadership of the Federal Government in a number of strategic areas where industry cannot succeed on its own.

This amounts to another subsidy of the nuclear industry, which may or may not be justified (see pages 3-6 of the Plan for their justification). Their justification relies highly on the fact that only the government has the facilities to conduct the research. But is it fair for the government to pay for the research? The governmenent needs to maintain its role of watchdog over the industry, but to this extent? In any event, I remain convinced that nuclear energy will play a major role in development of a reduced CO2 emissions power industry.

FYI: Industry's First Phase Change Memory Prototypes

Intel Corporation and STMicroelectronics reached a key industry milestone today as they began shipping prototype samples of a future product using a new, innovative memory technology called Phase Change Memory (PCM). The prototypes are the first functional silicon to be delivered to customers for evaluation, bringing the technology one step closer to adoption.

The memory device, codenamed "Alverstone" uses PCM, a promising new memory technology providing very fast read and write speeds at lower power than conventional flash, and allows for bit alterability normally seen in RAM. PCM has long been a topic of discussion for research and development, and with "Alverstone," Intel and STMicroelectronics are helping to move the technology into the marketplace.

"This is the most significant non-volatile memory advancement in 40 years," said Ed Doller, chief technology officer-designate of Numonyx, the new name for the pending STMicroelectronics and Intel flash memory company. . . . more

FYI: National Geographic Special on Global Warming

I thought this series might be of interest to some of my readers.

Can anyone stop global warming? Part of National Geographic’s mission is to inspire everyone to at least try, with a bevy of new content designed to educate, inspire and even alarm.

National Geographic’s “Six Degrees Could Change the World” premieres Sunday Feb. 10 on the National Geographic channel.

Based on the book Six Degrees by Mark Lyman, this series takes a blunt, eye-opening, degree-by-degree look at the natural disasters and climate change in store as the earth’s temperature rises up to an alarming six degrees over the coming century thanks to global warming.

National Geographic Digital Media and National Geographic Green Guide are supporting Six Degrees” with a wealth of related content available at www.thegreenguide.com and www.nationalgeographic.com/preserveourplanet for anyone who wants to make a difference and cut down on their personal contributions to global warming.

In an essay titled “Six Degrees,” Lyman highlights the changes he and his family members have implemented to reduce their carbon footprint. Lyman serves as guest editor at Green Guide this week, selecting articles for the site’s home page that reflect his interests, including information on wood-burning stoves, green power and local foods. The essay can be accessed at www.thegreenguide.com,

Cheap Cars Mean Higher Gas Prices

The introduction of cheap cars in China and India may accelerate the increase of price of gasoline in the rest of the world.  That is the essence of a CNNMoney article that points to projection that India will be have annual sales of 3 million light vehicles and China roughly 17 million units by 2015.  The 2 billion-plus combined populations of India and China could one day dwarf the 300 million potential car buyers in the U.S.

Even though these small, cheap cars get high milage they are for the most part being sold as the first car that an individual owns, therefore over a few years, the sheer volume of these cars adds tremendously to the world's requirements for gasoline.

India's Tata Nano and the Chinese Chery QQ are the cars that are sparking this revolution. TheTata Nano, a two-cylinder, four-person sedan that gets 50 miles per gallon and is priced at $2,500 while China's Chery QQ, is a  five door, 4 passenger vehicle, with a 3 cylinder, 0.8 liter engine and starts at about $3.700.

MIT & TI Team Develop Chip up to 10 Times More Energy-Efficient than Current Chips

From MIT News comes what seems to be one of a long string of disruptive technologies in the semi-conductor industry. The potential impact of these chips is unimaginable at this time.  Can you imaginge a pacemaker or other implantable medical device that requires no batteries?

Researchers at MIT and Texas Instruments have unveiled a new chip design for portable electronics that can be up to 10 times more energy-efficient than present technology. The design could lead to cell phones, implantable medical devices and sensors that last far longer when running from a battery.

The key to the improvement in energy efficiency was to find ways of making the circuits on the chip work at a voltage level much lower than usual, Anantha  Chandrakasan, the the Joseph F. and Nancy P. Keithley Professor of Electrical Engineering, explains. While most current chips operate at around one volt, the new design works at just 0.3 volts.

Reducing the operating voltage, however, is not as simple as it might sound, because existing microchips have been optimized for many years to operate at the higher standard-voltage level. "Memory and logic circuits have to be redesigned to operate at very low power supply voltages," Chandrakasan says.

Oil Shortages Start in 2010; Peak Oil Hits 2012-2015

EnergyTechStocks.com had a very interesting post on peak oil based on an interview with Charles T. Maxwell.

Maxwell spent 40 years on Wall Street, plus 12 years before that working for a major oil company, a lifetime of experience. Now a senior energy analyst at Weeden & Co., Maxwell is known as the “dean of energy analysts.”  Princeton and Oxford-educated Maxwell has laid out in stark, uncomplicated terms what might be called the “Nightmare on Main Street.”

Some key points from the first of four posts in EnergyTechStock.Com:

• There is only about 1.2% more oil available each year, not enough to keep up with 1.5% annual demand growth.
• Between now and 2010, this supply shortfall will be made up through a drawdown in inventories, helped out by a slowdown in demand in 2008 and 2009 due to a recession or near-recession in the U.S.
• In 2010, the shortfall will become greater than can be made up by what’s still in inventory, thus beginning a period of global oil scarcity that will lead to a “peak” in conventional oil production in 2012 or 2013.
• It gets even worse in 2015, which is when he expects a peak in the production of all liquids, a category that includes condensates, tar sands oil and biodiesel.
• By 2025, “We can create some answers.” He explained that both plug-in electric vehicles and cellulosic biofuel are “wonderful ideas”; however, given that it takes 10 to 15 years or longer to turn over the world’s vehicular fleet, such technological breakthroughs won’t happen quickly enough to prevent the nightmare from happening.

In part 2 he forecasts $12 to $15 dollars a gallon gasoline "in a few years" with oil at $180 a barrel in 2015 and $300 a barrel in 2020.

Not too far from what I expect, based on a "virtual" consensus that I have created in my mind. I don't have any idea whether his price forecasts are anywhere near reality, as few will stick there neck out that far on prices.  I know the long term trend is up and any short term decreases are just a blip in the trend.

Bio-crude Turns Cheap Waste into Valuable Fuel

CSIRO and Monash University announced that they have developed a chemical process that turns green waste into a stable bio-crude oil.

Bio-crude works in much the same way as crude oil, making it economical to produce bio-crude in local areas for transport to a central biorefinery for further processing, rather than transporting bulky green waste to the refinery.

The bio-crude oil can be used to produce high value chemicals and biofuels, including both petrol and diesel replacement fuels.

“By making changes to the chemical process, we’ve been able to create a concentrated bio-crude which is much more stable than that achieved elsewhere in the world,”

-- Dr Steven Loffler of CSIRO Forest Biosciences.

The process uses low value waste such as forest thinnings, crop residues, waste paper and garden waste, significant amounts of which are currently dumped in landfill or burned.

According to Biopact bio-crude oil is a next-generation biofuel obtained from the fast pyrolysis of any type of biomass including waste. Fast pyrolysis is a process in which the organic materials are rapidly heated to 450 - 600 °C at atmospheric pressure in the absence of air. Under these conditions, organic vapours, pyrolysis gases and charcoal are produced. The vapours are condensed to bio-oil. Typically, 70-75 wt.% of the feedstock is converted into oil.

This process is similar to the process used by Dynamotive.

Leading Wall Street Banks Establish The Carbon Principles

Guidelines to strengthen environmental and economic risk management in the financing and construction of electricity generation.

Three of the world's leading financial institutions announced the formation of The Carbon Principles, climate change guidelines for advisors and lenders to power companies in the United States. The need for these Principles is driven by the risks faced by the power industry as utilities, independent producers, regulators, lenders and investors deal with the uncertainties around regional and national climate change policy.

The Principles were developed in partnership by Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, and in consultation with leading power companies American Electric Power, CMS Energy, DTE Energy, NRG Energy, PSEG, Sempra and Southern Company. Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council, environmental non-governmental organizations, also advised on the creation of the Principles.

Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley have pledged their commitment to the Principles to use as a framework when talking about these issues with clients. This effort creates a consistent approach among major lenders and advisors in evaluating climate change risks and opportunities in the US electric power industry. The Principles and associated Enhanced Diligence represent a first step in a process aimed at providing banks and their power industry clients with a consistent roadmap for reducing the regulatory and financial risks associated with greenhouse gas emissions.

The Principles are:

DOE Selects 4 Small-Scale Biorefinery Projects for Up to $114 Million in Funding

DOE announced on January 29 that it will invest $114 million in four ten-percent of commercial-scale scale biorefinery projects over four years, to be located in Colorado, Missouri, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

Expected to be operational in four years, the selected projects will use a wide range of feedstocks to produce liquid transportation fuels such as cellulosic ethanol, as well as bio-based chemicals and bio-based products used in industrial applications.  Combined with industry cost share, more than $331 million will be invested in these four projects.

“Spurred by the President’s ambitious plan to reduce projected U.S. gas consumption by twenty percent by 2017, our goal is to aggressively push these technologies forward to get them out into the marketplace as quickly as possible, so they can have a real impact.  Advanced biofuels offer tremendous promise for helping our nation to bring about a new, cleaner, more secure and affordable energy future.”On average, commercial-scale biorefineries input 700 tons of feedstock per day, with an output of approximately 20-30 million gallons a year (MMGY); these small-scale facilities will input approximately 70 tons of feedstock per day, with an typical output of 2.5 MMGY.

--DOE Secretary Samuel W.  Bodman 

Plans for Coal-to-Liquids Facility Announced

Fuel Frontiers, Inc. (FFI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nuclear Solutions, Inc. (OTC:NSOL), announced that it is working with Shaw Stone & Webster (Shaw) to launch an engineering program that will provide a technical basis for a 400 Tonne per day Coal-To-Liquid (CTL) Ultra-Clean Diesel fuel production facility in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.

FFI is planning to employ a commercially proven plasma gasification system designed by Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC) coupled to commercially available Fischer-Tropsch (FT) gas-to-liquids (GTL) diesel fuel production systems, to be designed and constructed by Shaw for its coal to ultra-clean diesel production facilities.

The WPC website states that "in the plasma gasification process CO₂ can be captured and sequestered." Unless this option is selected I could not support the building of this facility. In this day and age I would think that if a process did not release any CO₂ it would be mentioned in the press release.  I would hope that vehicles with better mileage, plug-in hybrids, electric vehicle and biofuels could be developed to the extent necessary to minimize our liquid fuel needs.  On the other hand, if a coal-to-liquids plant could be built with no CO₂ emissions, that competes economically with other sources of liquid fuels, it could be another resource to add too the mix.

Latest on the Volt

Jan 31 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp plans a strong production run for its plug-in Chevy Volt, according to a senior executive on Thursday who also urged Congress to approve tax incentives to help spark demand.  . . .

"As volume (of batteries) scales up, you will move down this curve to see better economics going forward. You can't get hung up on the economics of the first unit or the tenth unit," Jon Lauckner, GM vice president for global program management, told an energy forum at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.  . . . 

Lauckner said GM still hopes to start production of the Volt by the end of 2010 and said the company is planning a healthy roll-out.

"We're talking about large numbers -- in the tens of thousands," he said. "It's not a niche market."  . . . more