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For more hydrogen fuel cell news articles. Share on Tumblr US NAVY HAS BEGUN USING THE ELECTROLYTIC CATION EXCHANGE MODULE TO PRODUCE HYDROGEN FUEL The United States Navy has begun using a new machine that could make its armada of ships and other seafaring vessels much more efficient and environmentally friendly. The device is called the Electrolytic Cation Exchange Module, and it is designed to capture carbon dioxide from the sea and produce hydrogen fuel as a byproduct of this process. The device is meant to serve as a way to generate renewable fuel while ships are at sea, giving them a reliable fuel source that will not be quickly depleted.NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY DEVELOPERS NEW MACHINE THAT CAPTURES CARBON AND PRODUCES HYDROGEN The device itself has been developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and researchers have been working on the device for several years. In 2009, researchers were able to modify a fuel cell, giving it the ability to release carbon dioxide from seawater. Using this process, the device was also able to generate hydrogen fuel as it consumed carbon dioxide. The process itself does not require the use of toxic chemicals and does not produce anything but hydrogen, making it environmentally sound.Researchers Continue To Study The Capabilities Of Their New Machine Since the 2009 breakthrough, the device has undergone many studies. Researchers have been working to test the feasibility of the device and determine whether or not it could be used as an effective fuel producer for the Navy. While the device may be ready to be put to use to some degree, researchers are still considering ways to scale up the device to allow it to produce more hydrogen and capture more carbon dioxide from the ocean.Ocean Could Be A Valuable Renewable Energy Resource According to the U.S. Navy, carbon dioxide is one of the most abundant carbon resources in the world. The concentration of this gas in the ocean is approximately 140 times greater than the concentration of this gas in the air. The ocean presents a significant opportunity for the military's endeavors to produce renewable energy while also making itself a more sustainable and environmentally friendly organization. For more alternative energy news headlines today.
BIOPAD - BIOENERGY PROLIFERATION AND DEPLOYMENT
BioPAD is promoting the wider use of bioenergy and developing applications targeting the whole process from supplying fuel to producing energy.
The project is led by the Western Development Commission (Republic of Ireland) and brings together partners from Northern Ireland (Action Renewables), Scotland (Environmental Research Institute) and Finland (Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla).
BioPAD is funded by the Northern Periphery Programme (www.northernperiphery.eu) of the European Regional Development Fund (Interreg IVB).
It will improve our understanding of the links between supply of bioenergy and the demand for energy by mapping supply chains for different bioenergy fuels and different energy conversion methods.
BioPAD will help us to ensure that targeted policies and actions can increase bioenergy use and help capture the benefits of it locally.Developing local bioenergy supply chains provides sustainable enterprise opportunities for individuals, communities and municipalities in Northern Europe through the use of renewable energy.
FURTHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE OR UNDER: WWW.BIOPAD.EU
Do you know that average 100w light bulb? Well, one African consumes as much as 7 of those light bulbs a year in electricity, Africa is nearly of the grid while an American consumes as much as 100 light bulbs. Current human energy use is 15,7 terawatts, that is 15,7 trillion watts, if everybody everywhere would start using electricity at the rate Americans do, the global consumption would more then quadruple to 62.8 TW.We produce electricity from several sources of which 87% is from fossil fuels like oil, coal or natural gas. Hydro-electrical power plants using the force of falling water around the world make about 7% of our production while nuclear power plants produce about 4%. Only 2% of the energy humans produce world-wide comes from renewable sources like the sun, the wind, using geothermal waters or tidal waves. So we rely our activity as a race on a dying giant, fossil fuels. They may have been a powerful resource in the past but we're burning through them a million times faster then nature provides them for us. They will go out one day.So let's see if we could rely our society strictly on electricity from renewable sources.The Sun delivers 173.000 TW on top of our atmosphere, that is 11.000 times our current use. The Algodones Dunes near Yuma, Arizona is the sunniest place in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records, there's barely a cloud in the sky 90% of the year. Researchers say that the deserts in South-West US could deliver 80% of the worlds current energy consumption. And there are other deserts much larger, like the Sahara desert in Africa. If we could collect 0.01% of the Sun's energy reaching the Earth it would be more than the humans use today. Of course there is only one problem with solar energy, night. But with more efficient transmission lines and a portfolio of renewable energy program that includes storage, the Sun's potential is vast.Dams around the world can provide 1,9 TW of hydro-electrical energy which is 12% of our current use. The Itaipu Dam on the border of Brazil and Paraguay produces more electrical energy then any other hydro-electrical power plant in the world and it provides almost the entire energy need for the city of Sao Paulo, home to more than 11 million. Sao Paulo is 600 miles away but Brazil decided to build innovative high-voltage transmission lines to minimize energy loss. Dams can't be the solution for every country, they flood landscape and unbalance ecosystems, but Brazil showed renewable energy can go the distance.Plants like corn and sugar cane are used to produce Etanol which is mixed with gasoline or can be used alone as fuel for our cars. If all the gasoline in the would suddenly disappear, Brazil would be the only country that could go it alone and still run it's cars. Today all the cars in Brazil run on FlexFuel a biofuel made out of Etanol or a mix of gasoline and Etanol. Producing fuel out of plants used for food may have an effect on food prices but labs like the NREL in the US have lunched programs to see if biofuels can be made out of agricultural waste. It does work! And researchers are trying to bring the costs down. So with plants capturing roughly 11 times human energy use they are a growing opportunity.New Zealand takes advantage of another energy, geothermal power plants harvest the heat of the Earth brought to the surface by geysers and turn it as much as 10% of New Zealand's electricity. Globally geothermal energy offers 44TW of electricity, 3 times our current use. But we can can mine the heat faster than nature provides it. Heat is present even if you don't see geysers and mud pots so it can be extracted without harming this natural wonders. A study by MIT showed that the accessible hot rocks beneath the US contain enough energy to run the country for 130.000 years. And like hydroelectric, geothermal can provide peaking power, ready to go at a moment's notice if the Sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow.And the wind blows everywhere, here is where US is very lucky. From Texas in the South to the Canadian border lies the Nation's Wind Corridor. All along this nearly 2.000 miles there's the potential to turn free, non-polluting energy source into electricity. But this takes decisions and actions and not by the government. In Texas it was farmers and ranchers who took the decision to rent their land so wind turbines could be installed. Now they receive between 5.000 and 10.000 a year for every turbine and with each farm hosting between 10 and 20 turbines it's a welcomed income. World-wide wind can provide 1.220 TW, that is 78 times current human usage. No form of energy production is free of environmental concerns, in the early days of wind farms there was little to no concerns for migrating birds, but studies showed that well placed wind turbines have no impact on the migrating habits of our little flying friends.And there is efficiency orientated measure that could be taken. Huston is the largest municipal purchaser of renewable energy. LED lights have been installed for the traffic lights and smart meters installation for homes is already ahead of schedule. 30% of the electrical energy city government uses comes from wind, with a target of 50%. That translates into savings of 3.5 million per year. The city already operates a fleet of hybrid cars and now is investing in an infrastructure to make driving this cars easy and practical. Globally, efficiency could cut the demands by a third by 2030.There are many ways to go and we can easily hit that renewable energy target:11.000 times our energy use is sent to our planet by the Sun,.12 times our energy usage comes from dams around the world,11 times our energy demands could be provided by biofuels made out of agricultural waste,3 times of our energy use could be extracted from the Earth hot activity,78 times of our electricity needs could be delivered through wind farms andefficiency could cut the demands by a third.So by 2030 our energy production could transform from one that is 87% from fossil fuels into this:26% solar13% wind13% geothermal5% hydro4% biofuels 61% of our current electricity needs could come out of renewable sources13% fossil fuels26% existing and new nuclear energy sourcesThere is even a viable and realistic plan that could use only Water, Wind and Solar energy to power up our activities, that means 100% energy from free renewable source!To make it short, renewable sources could easily provide the energy we use today and they will always be here. The sources are free, so the costs would be high only for the initial investments after that there would only be the costs for maintaining the infrastructure.We live our lives on this planet as if we are the last ones here when we should be living as if we are the first. In our ignorance and greed we cut down the trees that take in our CO2 and give us fresh air to breathe. We pollute the rivers and catch more fish then we actually need. This little dot in the Universe we call Earth is our playground, we are visitors here, we can enjoy our stay and leave this planet healthier than we've found it.To really change something the old must go, otherwise the new would only be a new form of the old, so all this needs is decision to start something new, to switch entirely to renewable sources for our energy needs. The possibility to run all our activities on green, low-cost, always renewable energy is already here, the technology exists and the sources have been here forever.Sebastian Writes For Find New York;
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STATE AGENCY PLANS TO BUILD 50 NEW HYDROGEN FUEL STATIONS IN ORDER TO BOLSTER THE FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE
The California Energy Commission will be spending 20 million to build 50 hydrogen fuel stations that will comprise California's "hydrogen highway." The hydrogen highway is meant to serve as a fueling structure that extends along the state's most popular highways. This will allow those with fuel cell vehicles to travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco without having to worry about running out of fuel during the journey.
LACK OF A WORKING INFRASTRUCTURE COULD PREVENT THE SUCCESS OF FUEL CELL VEHICLES
California currently has 10 hydrogen fuel stations in operation, most of which are located in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. These stations are only serving a handful of fuel cell vehicles that are currently running throughout the state. In the near future, fuel cell vehicles are expected to become more prolific, but their success with consumers is largely dependent on the existence of a comprehensive hydrogen fuel infrastructure.
New Fuel Station Will Enable Convenient Travel From Los Angeles To San Francisco
The California Energy Commission is set to build its first new hydrogen fuel station in the city of Coalinga. This will serve as a fueling point for those traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Fuel cell vehicles have been praised for their efficiency, being able to travel for more than 300 miles before needing to refuel. This is one of the attractive features of fuel cell vehicles, along with their performance capabilities.
Other States Begin Investing In Their Hydrogen Fuel Infrastructure
California is expected to become a very active clean transportation market in the coming years. Automakers have plans to bring their fuel cell vehicles to the state later this year and they have also been investing in the construction of new hydrogen fuel stations. California is not the only state working on developing a hydrogen infrastructure, of course. Other states along the west coast are also building stations to connect to California's hydrogen highway in an effort to make travel via fuel cell vehicles more convenient for consumers.
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Legislation to repeal a five-year-old law that hasn't fully taken effect yet is moving through the State Senate. But Democratic leaders are calling for a economic impact study on repealing the measure, just as their GOP counterparts have called for the same studies on bills introduced this session.
The Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, championed by then-Gov. Joe Manchin, required utility companies to earn credits by producing electricity from alternative fuel sources, including advanced coal technology, coal bed methane, waste coal, coal gasification, natural gas and pumped storage from hydroelectric projects.
The Act also allows for "net metering," credits given from utility companies back to residents who produce their own electricity through solar panels or windmills. Those residents can sell electricity to their providers, as well.
Measures in both houses now preserve net metering in the West Virginia Code.
Called the "West Virginia Cap and Trade Law" during the campaign last year, the standard's "cap" is generally thought to be the 25-percent minimum requirement of alternative fuels and the trade is ability for small utility companies to buy or trade energy credits.
The federal push for cap and trade calls for capture of carbon emissions, with profit incentives for doing so, and gives those companies the ability to sell or trade their unused credits.
Former House Speaker Tim Miley, D-Harrison, called the original bill a "toothless tiger" last week, and said its repeal would not help state residents in coal-producing counties.
This week, Miley sent a letter to House Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, asking for an economic impact study on the bill's repeal. "It's important to know whether the repeal of the Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act accomplishes meaningful results, or whether the repeal of the legislation is mere campaign fluff," he said.
"This legislation has been touted by many members of the Legislature and coal industry representatives as a vital jobs-saving bill for the coal industry," Miley said. "I believe it is imperative for members of the Legislature to know the real impact of this legislation - to coal miners and their families and to other industries that may be affected by the repeal - prior to being asked to cast their votes."
The House of Delegates adopted changes to the House Rules on the first day of session that included a provision (House Rule 95C) that permits the Speaker to request an Economic Impact Statement on any piece of legislation to determine how many jobs would be gained or lost as a result of the legislation and any effect on wages and compensation.
Sen. Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, the former Senate president, likewise made the same challenge to leadership in the upper chamber Monday morning. Kessler said he favors repeal, but wants to see if the Legislature is passing "sound public policy."
Sen. President Bill Cole, R-Mercer, said the study is unlikely.
As chair of the Committee on Energy, Industry and Mining, Sen. Jeff Mullins, R-Raleigh, said repealing the law allows free markets to decide what fuels energy companies use.
"(I)f an energy company decides that coal is the cheapest way to provide energy, they will not be limited by state government in ability to provide energy through coal. This in turn will ensure that no coal jobs in West Virginia are limited now or at any time in the future by a cap on coal-fueled energy," Mullins said.
Mullins said he is happy that the committee was able to reach a compromise on net metering so that consumers who generate their own power are given credit for that.The Alternative Energy Act took effect Jan. 1.
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Post from CleanTechLaw.org: www.cleantechlaw.org
GO GREEN, GO SOLAR.
There has never been a better time to go solar in the United States. Abundant sunshine lights up a landscape interspersed with world-class corporations, banks and Universities that have incubated a culture of innovation and progress.
Now, the United States is positioned to emerge as the leader in solar installation and lead the change in the defining economic shift of this century: RENEWABLE ENERGY ADOPTION.
Solar is now viable and cost-effective. Energy- the world's biggest industry and the engine that moves the modern economy- is close to dramatic change. As renewable energy technology advances, the conventional, centralized, grid-based energy dissemination platform is becoming more and more outdated.
In fact, the energy market is outdated. It hasn't really changed in over 100 years.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENERGY
In the early 20th century, companies were competing to gain market share of the burgeoning energy market. However, this competition often led to duplicate generation plants and distribution infrastructure, which had high fixed costs and was incredibly inefficient. The capital intensity, paired with the investment uncertainty, posed a significant challenge for participants in the market to operate effectively and efficiently. Because of the inefficiencies of the energy market, the government deemed energy a "natural monopoly" in which regulation fulfills the role that competition fills in a traditional free market. The modern energy market, therefore, is largely based on 100-year-old technology and is incredibly inefficient.
Because this method of electricity distribution crosses city, state and regional lines, the government has to be involved. Government regulation and fossil fuel generated energy are necessarily very closely connected.
PROGRESSIVE GOVERNMENT POLICIES
The United States has been progressive (albeit not as progressive as many European countries have been) in implementing policies and bills to help propel renewable energy adoption.
Employing the right to regulate within the state provided by the 10th Amendment, States have implemented their own tax-incentives and policies to spur renewable energy adoption.
To encourage solar adoption, there is a 30% Federal Tax credit in place. That means that 30% of the expenditures of the installation of a residential solar system will be credited to the homeowner's federal tax liability.
Additionally, most states provide their own solar installation tax credits that correspond to one's state tax liability.
This site is designed to educate the homeowner with up to date government tax incentive information in a digestible and clear manner.
Most of these tax credits are considerable, but as of now many of them expire in December of 2015.
INDUSTRY SHIFT
Since solar (and other renewable technologies) are becoming more widespread, the energy market is in a volatile stage. After 100 plus years of very little innovation, distributed energy generation is reconfiguring the old energy market into a new, more responsive and more efficient 21st century industry that will only continue to evolve. But changing the world's biggest industry is not going to happen overnight.
ENTRENCHED ENERGY INTERESTS ACKNOWLEDGE THIS PARADIGM SHIFT, AND THEY ARE FIGHTING TO QUELL ANY FURTHER ADVANCEMENT.
The preexisting companies are fighting to prevent solar adoption. Using monopolistic control they are starting to undercut the cost of solar by lowering their prices. It is a market that has historically been opaque, and the emergence of distributed energy is providing consumers with energy options for the first time in modern history. The change may be slow, but solar (and other renewables) will eventually win simply because they provide better economics to homeowners and utilities alike.
Duke Power, of Charlotte, recently unveiled plans to invest 500 million in solar to be in accordance with North Carolina's renewable energy guidelines. In rural stretches of North Carolina, land is cheap and is where construction of CPV (Concentrated Photovoltaic) solar plants will take place. They realize that solar power generation is economically viable. The power behemoth Georgia Power is seeking approval for ten new solar power plants worth a total of 515 megawatts of capacity (put in perspective, that's enough to power approximately 93,357 homes and dwarfs the state's 2013 installed solar capacity of 90.9 megawatts) planned for build-out in 2015 and 2016. The "primary evaluation criterion was economic benefits to customers... a meaningful economic impact on the Georgia economy," wrote the utility in its filing.
The market will undoubtedly go through an awkward stage as entrenched interests fight to prevent innovation, until eventually the best technology wins. Every industry experiences this, where the incumbent fights to maintain market share: landlines to wireless; traditional cameras to digital cameras; carbon based energy generation to sustainable energy generation. Innovation, after all, is foundational to economic growth.
The price of solar may change, it may fluctuate, it may be subject to competition from preexisting energy companies. The industry is in the initial stages of a historic shift. McKinsey and Co has stated that "the world is on the cusp of a resource revolution." Royal Dutch Shell is taking steps necessary to make sure they have the capacity to implement solar and other renewable technologies. Car companies are manufacturing electric vehicles following the runaway success of Tesla. Big, well-established companies are taking notice and pursuing these new technologies.
ACT NOW, NOT LATER
Because of the uncertainty of prices of energy in the coming years as the market shifts and evolves, there is no better time to go solar than now. Across the United States, consumers should take advantage of attractive tax policies sooner rather than later.
The power to change rests predominately in the hands of the consumer; the people purchasing solar systems to put on their roof and generate their own electricity.
Americans can choose to hesitate or they can lead the way in propelling renewable adoption which would, in turn, create jobs, stimulate the economy, mitigate climate change and reduce dependence on foreign oil. That's a nice mix of results.
The United States has been the crucible for innovation. We have built the world's most robust economy, driven by the American ethos founded on freedom and liberty. In order to maintain our competitive edge as a leader in the world, we must lead change in renewable energy adoption.
Economies are driven by consumers in a complex, bottom-up, adaptive system. Free-markets work. The natural monopoly that utilities have enjoyed for years is facing reconfiguration face to face, as they should. Recently, Uber and Lyft and other ride-hailing services have completely disrupted the Taxi industry, an industry, like energy, that was based on market control, not innovation and consumer empowerment. Why should we allow companies to control our energy usage if there are other choices available?
GOING SOLAR IS NOT A GREEN, BLUE OR RED IDEA. IT IS AN ECONOMIC IDEA. GOING SOLAR MAKES SENSE, AND IT MAKES SENSE TO DO IT NOW.
We are in the early stages of an unprecedented economic shift. We must act now to lead the change.
Cold beer and hot water on tap: Winton has them both.
The Shire Council at the geographic heart of Queensland, Winton, has gotten its electricity supply into a lot of hot water. Literally.
The council on Thursday announced it had stuck a deal with LGIS, the state's Local Government Infrastructure Services body, to draw heat to generate electricity from the Great Artesian Basin via a geothermal energy plant which it says could save it 15 million in energy costs.
The development of the alternative energy power plant sits in stark contrast to dozens of local governments that are at loggerheads with the coal seam gas industry which is keen on extracting the fuel as a lucrative overseas export.
Alternative and renewable energy initiatives by councils used to be primarily about showing environmental values. But in these cash strapped days, most local governments are pursuing projects that put savings straight into their bottom line by paying energy utilities a lot less.
According to Winton's council and LGIS, the new geothermal plant once operational will not only power the council's key buildings, but also has the potential to power all of the small town.
Winton Shire Council Mayor 'Butch' Lenton put the new geothermal plant's payback period at less than seven years. He added the savings garnered will free-up sorely needed extra money for community projects.
Mayor Lenton said a massive drought, economic hardship, and a significant reduction in state and federal government funding for community services and assets had left his town hurting like a lot of Western Queensland.
"When a project comes along that can save our community millions we want to explore it thoroughly,' he said.
The council's chief executive, Tom Upton, who has to manage Winton's limited finances is similarly steamed-up about the project's potential, adding that other communities in the region would be excited by it finally going ahead.
"Geothermal energy is used across the world and here we are in Western Queensland we are sitting on one of the best sources of hot water in the world and not utilising its potential," he said.
But with the fractious politics of water never far away, the council and LGIS (which is designing the geothermal plant) were at pains to stress that it will use water from already running bores to supply heat -- as opposed to so-called 'hot rocks' technology that drills down deep to tap heat by getting closer to the earth's core.
"This technology does not change the geological or chemical composition of water supplies in the region," said LGIS chief executive Jari Ihalainen.
"The Geothermal energy plant to be deployed in Winton will simply use the hot water flowing from existing bores and convert this heat into a sustainable long-term energy source for the town."
"Advancements in geothermal energy generation have opened up the possibility of utilising water temperatures as low as 70 degrees to generate power, which is a great opportunity for those Western Queensland councils located on the Great Artesian Basin,' Mr Ihalainen said.
The council isn't wasting any time plugging its mains into nature's kettle either, with final design specifications due to be completed by the end of May 2015.
Local Government Association of Queensland President Margaret de Wit said geothermal energy could provide "massive savings for communities." photo by:
The post QLD council plugs into geothermal power generation appeared first on Government News.
Green energy is gaining in popularity and usage. Through the use of green energy, people can really lower their utility bills as well as help the environment. Here are some simple tips for implementing your own green energy plan. Consider outdoor lighting, such as garden or patio lighting, that is solar-powered. The solar lamps are relatively inexpensive and will not need any additional power other than direct sunlight. You will not only reduce the energy you use. You also don't need to hang lights or wires outdoors. Do things like wash your clothes inside some cold water, if you can. The majority of energy use from washing clothes is in the heating of the water. Using a quality detergent means it is unnecessary to use hot water. Be sure to always do a full load of clothes when you wash. Instead of using a clothes dryer, hang your clothes in the sun to dry in the summer months. You'll love how your clothes smell after being sun-dried. They will be fresher than clothes dried in the dryer. You will also save money on utility bills by doing this. If you would like to reduce the cost of your hot water, use solar energy. Purchase a solar water heating system. There are direct circulation systems and also direct ones. Indirect systems are the best if you have frozen pipes during the winter. Maintain your refrigerator. Refrigerators use a large amount of energy, so they should be taken care of to work their best. Make sure to clean heating coils often. Also, check the door to be sure it is sealed tightly. An easy way to cut energy costs and go green is to dress warm. A thin sweater will provide you with two degrees of additional heat, while a heavier item will add four. It is unnecessary to dress scantily at home, so pick up a sweater and save some money! Take time to read about passive and active solar power. Active power is stored for use at a later time, passive does not require expensive cells to store the power. Active solar power needs to have cells, mechanical systems, and solar panels installed. While passive is simply using the sun to store thermal energy inside your walls to heat your home with. Keep track of your watt usage. There are gadgets out there that will help show you what in your house is using the most energy. Look for brands like Watt Minder and Kill-A-Watt. All you have to do is plug the appliance directly into the device so that it can calculate how much energy is being used per hour, month, or year. This is a good way to find out how much your appliances are really costing you. A great way to save energy is to switch your boiler. Older boilers are not as energy efficient as new ones because people didn't worry about the environment when they were made. Newer boilers help by producing less carbon dioxide as well as cut down the cost of your energy bill. Use a toilet designed to conserve water. It's estimated that as much as fifty percent of your water usage comes from the toilet. An older model toilet uses a lot more water than a water-saving one, 5 gallons versus 1.6 gallons, almost 70 percent more. Many people typically don't turn off lights, machines and appliances that they are not using. Most people could probably save a ton on utility bills by getting in this habit. Before doing something, be sure to remember to turn these things off. When you are shopping for items made of wood, consider things made from bamboo. Bamboo is a product that grass-based and a lot stronger than many of the commercially available wood products on the market. It is very easy to grow and is becoming more widely available. Retail outlets are selling many bamboo products, from flooring to cutting boards. Using bamboo can help conserve energy when making new products as well as saving on the costs of recycling old products. By implementing some of these simple green energy tips, you will be able to save money and keep the environment healthier, as well. Green energy can easily be implemented into consumer's lives using the aforementioned tips and techniques.
Reference: cleanpowerlife.blogspot.com
Computer giant Apple has announced it will power its main US data centre entirely from solar energy by the end of the year.
It plans to invest an unspecified amount in solar generation capacity sourced from SunPower Corp, plus solid oxide fuel cell technology from Bloom Energy.
The fuel cells will supply stored power generated from the sun, when it isn't shining, and use a ceramic powder instead of platinum to produce electricity with greater efficiently than traditional fuel cells.
They operate at extremely high temperatures, typically above 800^0C, which improves their electrical efficiency.
Bloom Energy already supplies Google, eBay and Walmart as well as Adobe Coca-Cola and other household names.
SunPower Corp was the foremost commercial solar installer in the United States last year.
According to Apple's CFO Peter Oppenheimer, the investment will benefit its North Carolina facility, which holds the servers that host its iCloud data services.
The solar farm will provide 84GWh of energy annually, more than sufficient to power the data centre.
This data centre is not the only one used for the iCloud by Apple, but it is the main one.
Greenpeace last month challenged Apple in its report "How Clean is Your Cloud?" that it was not as green as Facebook and Google.
Data centres contain thousands of computers that store and manage the world's rapidly growing accumulation of data for consumption at a moment's notice. They consume a tremendous amount of electricity. IT in total is responsible for around 2% of global GHG emissions "[this sentence corrected since publication - see comments below]".
But Greenpeace says that most IT companies are rapidly expanding without considering how their choice of energy could affect climate change.
Greenpeace said that Yahoo and Google both continue to lead the sector in prioritising renewable energy to power their cloud expansion.
It accused Amazon, Apple and Microsoft of rapidly expanding without adequate regard to the source of electricity, and of relying heavily on dirty energy.
It applauded Facebook for committing to power its platform with renewable energy, and Akamai, responsible for carrying a much internet traffic, for being the first IT company to begin reporting its carbon intensity under the new Carbon Utilization Effectiveness (CUE) standard.
In response, two weeks ago, Microsoft promised that it would go carbon neutral after July. Its chief operating officer Kevin Turner said that it would use carbon offsetting and improved energy efficiency.
Greenpeace criticised Microsoft however, because carbon offsetting still allows it "to keep building data centres that rely on coal, such as its new investments in Virginia and Wyoming".
Apple, however, appear to have listened to Greenpeace's advice.
Show the way the biomass briquetting press-gang project, the top characteristics energy resource briquettes are complete that is used for the electricity and power generation. The limit good piece about inhabit briquettes are complete from bio waste resources so they are eco casual a bit than the fossil energy fuels. As all types of the biomass residues wear imply to loan energy and their out of place disposal and imperfect burning earn the new hurt and pollution. The biomass briquettes are the a lot of sparing, renewable and limit elemental cost-cutting supply of energy which may toggle any of suite fuel. This wanted fuel is provided the BIOMASS BRIQUETTING Drive technology in association ecological resources. The biomass briquettes are complete up of the effective bio waste resources, discharged from contrasting agricultural and expected science travels. The conversion of the bio extinguish resources in to a cut above energy fuel for power and electricity production in achievable resources is in excess of by the biomass BRIQUETTING Moving parts Manufacturer. So, crookedly the biomass briquetting plant technology is used for energy production in simple industries while as in bucolic areas. The biomass briquetting press-gang technology provides ecological machineries for the gree energy supply waxen coal production. The waxen coal are generated from the reprocessing of the bio waste dressed in the briquette machines lower older mechanized change. The fuel briquettes are having least possible dampness and ash book, so they are perfectlly opportune for green electricity production. The bio coal briquettes are habitual scale trice the transnational warming and gas impacts. Hence the initial of industries and power plants these existence dearest the take advantage of of the bio briquettes. This biomass briquettes offers older voltage and reheat imply so the briquettes wear older market call for. The BIOMASS BRIQUETTE Moving parts technology furthermore supported by Governments and that they supply contrasting subsidies to the ban computer producing project. In present Era, briquetting plant is creating curve as they are facing producing a key source of energy sought-after for economic development.
NEW DELHI: Installing a rooftop solar system may be much more expensive soon both for commercial establishments and residents. Large, commercial establishments that are already paying higher tariff for conventional power may not be entitled to the central government's 30% subsidy any more according to a public notice issued on January 2, 2014 MNRE. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)'s current 30% subsidy for rooftop solar projects is under revision. It may be reduced soon to only 15%. The reduced subsidy may be applicable only for certain sectors like educational institutions, residential buildings, old age homes, orphanages, and state and central government buildings. "Due to limited availability of budget", the notice adds that the capital subsidy may not be provided to certain categories of beneficiaries at all. Continue reading
Origin: greenenergychoice.blogspot.com
Various Kinds of Alternative Energy
Power is used everyday and there are many option signifies of power. If you are searching for alternative power then in this post we are going to talk about types of option power.
High gas rates at US gas pumps along with other countries around the globe has turn into concern to many.
The USA as well as the rest in the globe has to look into other types of alternative energy and new avenues of power supply and production. We've got to cut back our dependency on oil. What this signifies for us is really a pricey future-until we are able to discover new sources of powering our mechanized and digital civilization, new sources which might be alternatives to oil.
We need to also change to option kinds of power due to the fact our present types are too damaging towards the atmosphere. Coal is one particular other source of vitality that we ought to wean ourselves off of-again, it really is finite, and it's filthy, as well as the mining of it truly is harmful and can damage the environment. We ought to find out new methods of making electrical power hydro-energy instead of employing dams.
Building nations ought to also embark on sources of alternative power and should perform together with the United states of america, Japan, and some European nations to create new option energy sources.
Solar energy is all about us and is the dominant type of power that is employed on the surface of the planet by humans, animals, and plants. Solar power can be a very handy alternative electrical energy technique that is certainly becoming quite well-known for little user and domestic application. Solar One Energy Connections connects New York City residents, businesses, and community based organizations to energy efficiency and renewable power sources via education, outreach, and project partnerships.
Biofuels from issues like "supertrees" and soybeans, refined hydroelectric know-how, pure fuel, hydrogen gasoline cells, the added constructing of atomic power plants, the continued development of photo voltaic energy photovoltaic cells, additional investigation into wind-harnessed energy-all of these are viable power sources that could act as alternatives towards the mammoth quantities of oil and coal that we presently are so dependent on for our really lifestyles.
As opposed to traditional fossil fuels, exactly where nature offered power more than millions of years to convert biomass into energy-dense solids, liquids, and gases--requiring only extraction and transportation technology for us to mobilize them--alternative power depends heavily on specially engineered gear and infrastructure for capture or conversion, essentially making it a high-tech manufacturing process. Sounds excellent: we can consume significantly less fossil fuel and lower our carbon footprint by making a lot more efficient refrigerators, blow dryers, automobiles, Television, and so on. Freeing ourselves from a dependence on classic fossil fuels not just calls for creativity in the lab, it requires the confidence of having the ability to deliver a commercially viable solution.
They are other sources of energy where we are able to develop to feed out industries and supply power for our properties Alternative power sources are abundant - and renewable. Power can be harnessed from the sun, the wind, from soybeans and other food crops, and even from the organic heat under the earth's surface. Making use of such power sources is excellent for the atmosphere - and for the economy. Advances in technology are generating alternative power more sensible and economical for mass use.
Purchased electricity accounts for more than 40 percent of campus emissions at U.S. colleges and universities. For most schools, it is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions (http://rs.acupcc.org/stats/ghg-source-stats/). As an increasing number of facilities managers examine how to support their institution's sustainability initiatives, purchased electricity holds an enormous opportunity for reducing emissions. While the cleanest (and cheapest) electricity will always be the electricity not consumed, colleges, universities, and schools will continue to purchase large amounts of grid-sourced electricity for years to come. Fortunately, there are an increasing number of ways that institutions can buy clean power - the trick is to understand which option makes the most sense for your institution. The purpose of this article is two-fold: first, to introduce the concept of purchasing clean energy from an offsite project developed on your behalf; and second, to help determine if this approach fits your school's needs. In order to understand the potential benefits of this approach, let's take a quick look at the alternatives. Historically, most colleges and universities that source clean energy have done so through either onsite renewable energy installations or renewable energy certificates (RECs). Each approach presents certain advantages and limitations. ONSITEOnsite clean energy projects can offer a highly visible source of clean power, a tangible commitment to sustainability, and easy educational access for students and faculty. Institutions can benefit from attractive leasing options or PPA structures that amortize costs over many years. However, an onsite facility may be difficult to build at a scale that significantly reduces an institution's footprint, and can be comparatively expensive. These drawbacks may be even more apparent on urban campuses with limited space. RECSRenewable energy certificates are notably easier and less expensive to procure than are onsite clean energy projects. RECs allow institutions to claim not only the environmental benefit of clean power generated elsewhere, but also to support the development of new projects. While a thriving REC market may be crucial to the health of renewable energy project markets, many colleges and universities believe that this financing mechanism falls short of delivering direct emotional and financial connections to a particular clean energy project. The abstract nature of the REC purchase often carries less appeal for institutions and their stakeholders. A THIRD APPROACH - OFFSITE CLEAN ENERGY PROJECTSTo overcome many of these limitations, one option for facilities managers to consider is to source clean power from an offsite renewable energy project that is relatively close to campus. LOCATIONOffsite projects can be sited in much better locations than can onsite ones, in terms of both the available sun or wind and the ease of connecting the project to the power grid. In addition, ground-mounted, offsite systems are often less expensive to install and maintain than are many onsite rooftop projects - savings that can be passed on to the end-user. SIZE AND SCALEOffsite systems also help overcome size limitations that confront many onsite systems, allowing a school to benefit from efficiencies of scale. Beyond the ability to create larger, more meaningful projects, offsite systems present the flexibility of a scalable system. This means an institution can size a project based on desired energy output (e.g., 10 or 20 percent of energy use) rather than on available space on campus. While offsite installations may not be visible from campus, there are many ways to integrate these projects into student life. Schools can bring larger offsite facilities to life by installing kiosks that display real-time power generation data and avoided carbon emissions, and students can take advantage of academic and vocational opportunities afforded by a large offsite project. If awareness and technology demonstration are particularly important to a school, small-scale on-campus demonstration projects can complement the offsite power plant. IS OFFSITE SOLAR ON-TARGET? 5 QUESTIONS To help you determine if an offsite project makes sense for your institution, consider these five questions: 1. Is your institution interested in purchasing clean power directly, but doing so on-campus is limited due to cost, complexity, or available space? 2. Is your institution reluctant to source clean power through RECs (either through a utility green power program or RECs provider)? 3. Is your institution in a deregulated electricity market? Deregulated markets can offer schools greater power purchasing options. 4. Is the solar or wind resource strong enough in your region? A higher quality resource allows a renewable energy system to generate the same amount of energy at a lower cost. Check the quality in your area by visiting the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's PVWatts Viewer online at http://maps.nrel.gov/node/25. 5. Is your institution located in a region with strong support for renewable energy? This assistance also helps lower the cost of power from an offsite project. Some states have "Renewable Portfolio Standards" (RPS) with specific requirements for solar. A map highlighting those states is available through the U.S. Department of Energy online at http://www.dsireusa.org/summarymaps. If facilities managers can affirmatively answer some of these questions, then an offsite project is a possible viable source of clean energy (in addition to RECs and onsite projects). By considering these three options, institutions can make powerful decisions about how to reduce the impact of purchased electricity, and can move closer to reaching their sustainability goals.
In today's society, global warming has been a huge controversy. The dilemma has been about the amount of fossil fuels we have burnt and released in the air, which has cause a slow decay in our ozone layer. The biggest factor to this has been the amount of gasoline/oil we use everyday. Now that we realize and understand more about the impact on the Earth of the burning of fossil fuels, we have started to develop more alternative sources of energy, for example, solar energy.
Solar energy uses the UV rays emitted by the sun and converts it through these solar panels and converts it into energy. Most of the solar energy panels that have been place are in remote areas where there is a lot of sun light. Although solar energy has been used in remote areas, many houses now accepted this technology and have become green by installing solar panels on the roof tops for energy in the homes. This new technology has not only expanded in electricity though, but it has been converted to heat things, like pools. Some of the top uses of solar energy in homes have been heating your swimming pool, heating your bath water, or even use the converted solar energy to cook.
I have had a first hand experience with solar energy because back home, we have solar panels on our roof. From first hand experience, solar energy has helped reduce the cost of our electricity bill, along with our heating bill. Another surprising thing about solar energy is the cost. Although solar panels aren't cheap to install, I remember my mom telling me that the government pays half of it if you get solar panels, reducing the cost enormously! This just goes to show that the government is pushing to pursue the technology of the uses of solar energy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar power
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/solar-power/
http://electrical.about.com/od/appliances/tp/Top-10-Solar-Energy-Uses.htm
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission voted for a rate plan submitted by We Energies that environmentalists say penalizes customers who conserve energy and jeopardizes the fledgling solar industry in southeastern Wisconsin."We feel like what the PSC approved for the We Energies rate case is a huge setback for Wisconsin in the area of clean energy development," said Keith Reopelle, senior policy director for Clean Wisconsin, a statewide environmental advocacy group.In a mid-November vote, the commission split 2-1 in approving We Energies proposed rate changes. The plan will be finalized in December and take effect in January.The commission approved a 75-percent increase in the monthly fixed charges that residential customers see on their bills in southeastern Wisconsin and the Fox Valley area. Monthly fixed fees will go from 9.13 to 16. We Energies said it needs to increase the charge so all customers - large users and small users - share in maintaining the company's infrastructure."What we're proposing is fair rates for all our customers who use the grid," said We Energies spokeswoman Jessica Williamson, according to the AP.As the fixed fee goes up, hourly usage rates would drop by less than a cent per kilowatt-hour.The two commissioners who backed the increase, Phil Montgomery and Ellen Nowak, were appointed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker. The commissioner who voted no, Eric Callisto, was appointed by Democrat Jim Doyle."Under this decision, customers who use more will see lower bills and customers who use less will see higher bills," said Robert Kelter, senior attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center, a nonprofit active on conservation issues throughout the Midwest. "It sends the wrong price signals on energy efficiency because it makes it harder for customers to control their monthly bills."A 'solar tax'The We Energy plan also involves billing changes for customers investing in renewable energy systems, with a provision that existing owners of solar systems will be grandfathered for 10 years.Under the changes, customers with renewable energy systems will pay We Energies 3.80 per kilowatt per month, based on the size of the system. This means that a property-owner with a 4 kW solar system would pay 182 annually to We Energies for owning that solar system. Additionally, We Energies reduced the price credited for excess generation from the current 14 cents per kilowatt-hour to just 3 cents per kilowatt-hour. "This decision is bad for job creation, bad for energy independence, bad for the environment and bad for customers," stated Tyler Huebner, executive director the conservation group RENEW Wisconsin.He continued, "Our Republican-appointed commissioners approved a new tax, killed jobs and restricted energy choice in Wisconsin."Huebner said the commission ignored facts and a "record level of over 1,900 public comments" in reaching its decision on the We Energies rate changes.And Reopelle recalled the results of a pre-election poll showing Wisconsinites overwhelmingly support more reliance and investment in clean energy, not less. "We Energies' proposal was especially egregious in terms of how it treated solar power," he said, adding that there is great potential for developing clean energy sources in the state but "the policies we have in place are not particularly friendly."'rapacious demands'We Energies is not the only Wisconsin utility seeking rate changes that involve increased fixed monthly fees and slightly lower hourly rates. The PSC voted to raise Wisconsin Public Service Corporation's fixed monthly charge to 9, less than the 15 that the utility asked for. As WiG went to press, a request from Madison Gas and Electric was pending.The regulatory decisions drove Democratic lawmakers to call for an investigation and reform of the state regulatory process and pushed Alliance for Solar Choice, a group advocating solar energy, to announce plans to sue once the We Energies plan is finalized.Democratic state Sen. Tim Carpenter, calling for "major reform," said, "The PSC has shown that it is either unwilling or unable to protect residential customers in the face of rapacious and predatory demands of large public utility corporations. The PSC members are supposed to balance the public utilities' desire for a regulated profit with what is fair for the customers. The failure of the PSC to provide such balance is simply unacceptable."Meanwhile, state Rep. Christine Sinicki questioned the integrity of the regulatory process in the wake of a Capital Times report finding that some people identified on a "Consumer Energy Association" list as advocates of We Energies' plan didn't actually back the requests.She said her husband "was falsely listed as a supporter" and "was not contacted by the CEA and does not support the We Energies proposal. Further, he does not support raising fixed fees on utility bills in a way that harms homeowners, seniors and clean energy development."Sinicki characterized the CEA as a Houston-based lobbying group for the fossil fuel industry and said its list of supporters for the We Energies proposal was oddly identical to a list it submitted in support of Madison Gas and Electric's rate hike plan.The lists were tossed in late October by an administrative law judge who determined they contained "inadequate and incorrect information."Sinicki said she's concerned about fraud and corruption.SourcePost from CleanTechLaw.org: www.cleantechlaw.org
Japan, the only country to have experienced not one but two atomic weapon blasts which devastated two major cities, has now suffered what is probably going to become the third worst civil nuclear disaster in the world.
Many voices are lining up to say that this is the nail in the coffin for nuclear power. There have been anti-nuclear demonstrations in Germany and Greenpeace is calling for the phasing out of all existing power stations. They say nuclear power is simply too dangerous.
Those on the pro-nuclear side have in the last few days been consistently underestimating the way that events have actually unfolded. My inbox has been filled with nuclear pundits offering their prognoses which have been proved invariably wrong.
Nevertheless even some environmentalists such as Mark Lynas are arguing that we still need nuclear power and that it's worth the risk because the alternative - runaway climate change - is unavoidable without it.
NUCLEAR OR RENEWABLE FUTURE?
Japan imports 90% of its oil and has used nuclear power to help fuel its economic success with a measure of energy independence. Up to now, the Japanese public have largely trusted the authorities.
The terrible consequences of the tsunami, the attendant economic collapse, the lack of services, electricity and food, and the terrifying prospect of an invisible enemy in the air or in the food around them has shattered this trust.
Hideki Ban, a Japanese antinuclear movement activist and leader of the Citizen's Nuclear Information Center (CNIC), commenting on the disaster, said at the weekend in an interview with an Italian newspaper "By an accident of this magnitude it is very likely (and is also our hope) that the close dependence of Japan on atomic energy will come to an end."
Yet would Japan be able to power all of its needs with renewable energy? And if it can, how long will it take to build the generation capacity? It would not do so with solar photovoltaic and wind power alone. However, it is an island and there is no shortage of marine energy or geothermal energy, whose effect could be magnified by the use of combined heat and power and heat pumps, or of food and crop waste for anaerobic digestion.
All new buildings to replace those lost could be constructed to become zero energy using the Passivhaus standard. If Japan can achieve energy security using renewables, then certainly so can the rest of the world.
And if it can't, then presumably the rest of the world cannot successfully tackle climate change either.
Mark Lynas argues that if we abandon nuclear power then in the immediate term coal will take up the slack. Without any proven (at scale) carbon capture and storage, this could well accelerate global warming.
THE RENEWABLE VISION
But it doesn't have to be like this. Large-scale deployment of anaerobic digestion, solar thermal power plants, marine energy and wind power linked by high-voltage supergrids can power economic revival.
The map right shows where it has been calculated that six large solar thermal plants situated in the hottest spots on the planet could power the whole world with such supergrids.
The European Desertec project is one such example of a project that could revolutionise North Africa and Europe and the Middle East.
The far east could have just such a super grid.
Is it feasible? Is it affordable?
What really brought nuclear power to a halt after the Three Mile Island disaster in America was the refusal of insurance companies to foot the bill for new construction given the potential damage to them were there to be another accident.
The same reaction is extremely likely again, in many countries of the world.
All renewable energy technologies carry far less inherent risk but more up front costs. If they are more expensive in capital terms, they are less expensive in terms of their running costs, security requirements and insurance requirements.
What the fulfillment of this dream requires is the political will and about the same amount of capital as it will take to build nuclear power stations and maintain their security and insure them against disaster in the future.
THE HEALTH RISK
Nuclear power is inherently dangerous. The whole supply chain including mining in countries like Niger promotes environmental desolation and conflict.
Mark Lynas argues that there have only been 50 deaths as a result of the Chernobyl disaster and this is an acceptable price.
But that is not the whole picture. There has been a great increase in thyroid cancers as a result of the ingestion of caesium-137, which can remain in the environment and food chain for 30 years.
Several of my friends around where I live have for many years received visitors from the Chernobyl area - children badly affected by radiation with terrible deformities. They come for holidays. It is awful to see them.
According to the World Health Organisation, an expert group from the US National Academy of Sciences has concluded that "there may be up to 4,000 additional cancer deaths among the three highest exposed groups over their lifetime". These groups contain 630,000 people.
Those who argue that all of this is an acceptable price to pay to tackle climate change have not seen the suffering themselves close to hand. If it was happening to them or their family, friends and neighbours they would not be so gung ho about it.
It's time to say no to the nuclear lobby. We don't trust you any more.
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Nearly 80% OF Solicit votes PARTICIPANTS WERE Against HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.
A statewide respect that was commissioned by the Inborn Cash Missile Assembly (NRDC) set up that touch on 8 out of 10 New Yorkers who took division in the cast your vote were in rotation of the state's fracking moratorium, making it flattering real that concerns about the steadiness of the drilling improve are collective.
THE Keep an eye on What's more Discovered THAT THE Simplification OF RESPONDENTS Greatly Accept Boss RENEWABLE Turn Come to life.
The respect was congress from Franklin, Maslin, Maullin, Metz ">fracking at home their borders. The moratorium has tell somebody to flattering a big concede considering New York is home to a component of the Marcellus shale formation, which is one of America's leading shale gas basins
The Schedule of the Individuals Missile Instance, Kate Sinding, imaginary that "Diagonally band together lines-from the city to the country-New Yorkers hold back complete it clear that they pressure a outperform providence for this state than relations that hold back been ravaged by the oil and gas industry." Sinding went on to say that "fracking is a circle oil mend for economic woes, one that comes with overpriced reimbursement." She explained that these reimbursement puff in the form of air pollution, water pollution, strength problems and communities vanished.
Cohorts Of Fracking Say That It May Be Awful For The State's Cutback.
Andrew Cuomo, New York's manager is concept better whether or not the fracking ban call for be lifted in the state. Nonetheless, for instance relations in rotation of the improve take it may perhaps benefit the economy, the NRDC cast your vote satisfactorily reveals that inhabitants do not agree.
60% of respect respondents felt that jobs that would ramification from hydraulic fracturing would latent be self-employed, for instance 26% alleged that the jobs would be persistent or that drilling would restore the economy. Also, 55% feature that the put forward mining improve is by and large bad for household communities due to the impact on strength, land and water, as 27% dimple it to be good for household communities arrant equally it would ramification in tax revenues, jobs and economic development.
Instead of fracking, Sinding imaginary that the employees of New York pressure to power their homes, create arrogant jobs and gasp life goodwill participating in the state's economy by harnessing renewable energy from sources enjoyment the sun and wind.
For arrogant alternative energy news headlines at the present time.
Southeast Europe faces a wide range of political and economic challenges, not least in the energy arena. Infrastructure quality in the region varies widely, and the emphasis on coal and hydropower to the exclusion of other renewables sets the area apart from the rest of Europe. But plans are in place that could turn the region into a budding energy storage market -- helping it improve the grid network and making it more energy-secure. "Energy storage can play a major role in contributing to the energy security of the region," said Gabriela Cretu, an electricity and renewable energy expert at the European Union-backed Energy Community policy group. Gjergji Simaku, head of Renewables and Energy Efficiency at the Albanian Ministry of Energy and Industry, says that the top driver of that country's deployment of renewable energy is domestic energy security, followed by sustaina...
Source: help-save-planet.blogspot.com
The renewable energy industry has witnessed a astonishing development in hopeful markets over the give see. According to the fresh version of the Renewable Thrust Authority Subtlety List, Breakables has construct the greatest attractive market for international investors.
The List which appearance 40 renewable energy markets on the good looks of their energy forecast, shows that Breakables overtook the Partnered States to regain their top pollute, kindness to the country's sulky targets and policies to unfasten up the market to perplexing investors. Breakables has prior to under enemy control international utility-scale solar PV industry and is now putting handiwork on other sectors, such as offshore wind, tidal and circulate solar. Meanwhile, the earlier grotesque European markets go on to drain away country to hopeful markets with India, Brazil, South Korea and Chile.
"China's school assembly is placing better heaviness on renewable energy as the territory battles pollution, ushering in new market opportunities for perplexing investors", held by Gil Forer, EY's Earthly Cleantech Enhanced, "On the warpath policy targets, an better target on consolidation and the roll-out of pain carbon emissions trading schemes likewise support the country's pollution reduce initiatives and echo the renewables sector's significant economic handling."
Just the once this year's reform at the top of the list, Germany and Japan are the truly two markets that possess to go to the bottom their earlier permanent. Germany ranked shape one in international company energy usefulness or this see. UK and Australia knock down to seventh and tenth whitehead each, point Italy and Spain are seeing the repercussions of retroactive changes to support mechanisms, with each one sinking several places boring the list.
In alter, go-ahead hopeful markets are going up in the list - India jumped to sixth whitehead as the new school assembly encourages official and personal renewables investment; Brazil, Chile, South Africa and Kenya all jumped up the list kindness to tubby use pipelines and abiding policy support point grotesque project financings in perplexing countries.
Represent is the loaded Renewable Thrust Authority Subtlety Index:
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Credit: greenenergychoice.blogspot.com
CHENNAI: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushes for renewable energy, four engineering students in Chennai have invented a solar-powered scooter. The idea behind the eco-friendly scooter is to reduce people's dependence on fossil fuels.
Sharath Rajan, student at SA Engineering College, said, "Nowadays many of us are using petrol and diesel vehicles and because of the exhaust from the vehicles it is making the city more polluted. That's why decided to go in for the solar panel."
The students picked up a discarded two-wheeler, bought a solar panel and fitted it on top of the scooter. The panel harvests solar energy which is converted into electricity that charges the battery.
The students picked up a discarded two-wheeler, bought a solar panel and fitted it on top of the scooter
The solar panel needs to be charged for three to four hours. Once the battery is fully charged the scooter can do an average distance of 35 kilometres with a top speed of 45 kilometres per hour.
The scooter makes little noise but as solar panel is heavy, it makes riding a little difficult. Students are also planning to upgrade their prototype.
Keerthi Prashanth, student at SA Engineering College, said, "The next step is we are trying to reduce the weight of scooter and the size of the battery. We are trying to get a flexible solar panel to reduce the size."
While their project has received funding from the state government, the students hope to fine-tune their eco-friendly scooter before approaching companies.
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Reference: renewable-energy-events.blogspot.com
Feature Article of Wednesday, 14 January 2015 COLUMNIST: Sakyi, Kwesi Atta 2015-01-14 Email this Share This * Facebook * Twitter * reddit * Google Bookmarks * del.icio.us * StumbleUpon * Newsvine * livejournal * Mixx it! Print This Comments (8) * > By Kwesi Atta Sakyi 12th January 2015 This article will use an eclectic approach in the discussion of alternate energy sources for Ghana. When the big bang cosmological event happened four and half billion years ago, according to the experts such as Stephen Hawking, our sun was born as a big blazing star of gases among other billions of suns, and it has continued in its blaze over the sky ever since, non-diminishing in its intensity, and giving life to all living things on earth. No wonder, some ancient people of Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and the Aztec-Maya civilisations, among many others, worshipped the sun-god which was called by different names as Ra in Egypt, Marduk in Persia, among others. Monuments of the Pyramids, the Stonehenge in SW England, and massive sun dials on the landscape in South America, of the archaeological remains of the Aztec-Maya civilisations, attest to sun-worship in ancient times. The world then was heliocentric. Whilst scientists on the one hand believe in the big bang hypothesis as well as Darwinian evolutionary theory, the existence of dark matter, the black hole, quarks, among other unexplained scientific phenomena, religious people on the other hand, Christians and Judaists, believe in the creational accounts in the holy tomes, contrasting the ideas of scientists. There lies a dichotomy between fact, value, faith, and fiction. However, the fact remains that everything originally existed in gaseous form until some coalescing gases solidified to form planets, asteroids, and the gaseous comets and stars of the universe. In religious speak, God created the world in six days and rested on the Sabbath day or the seventh day. This is found in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis in the bible. In basic science, matter exists in four forms of plasma, gas, liquid, and solid, and it is said that nothing can be destroyed nor created, because everything transforms from one state of matter to another. Therefore, there must be a constant in an equation somewhere which always achieves a balance or equilibrium. Newton established years ago that the force of attraction between two bodies is equal to a gravitational constant, multiplied by the masses of the bodies, divided by the square of the distance between them: F= g M1M2/d2. Here, the variables are distance and force, since the masses are constants. Einstein gave us his relativity theory as E=mc2, where 'c' is the velocity of light (in a vacuum, which is estimated at 300,000 kilometres per second), and 'm' is mass. Thus, there is a direct proportionality between mass and energy, since velocity of light is constant. Thus, the bigger the mass, the greater the energy generated, and also the greater the displacement in the space/time continuum. However, it depends on the chemical composition of that mass, whether it is radioactive or not. In quantum physics, we negate Schumpeter's assertion that, 'to be small is beautiful'. The two theories of Newton and Einstein seem to have some things in common. While Newton's theory establishes an inverse relationship between Force (F) and distance (d), Einstein's theory establishes a direct relationship between Energy (E) and mass (m). I think they are two sides of the same coin. Einstein's theory places more emphasis on time and motion in the time-space-motion continuum and trilogy, which gives us the basis for atomic or nuclear fission and fusion in a reactor where a mass of radioactive material is bombarded and accelerated in nuclear reaction to release vast amounts of energy. We can apply this knowledge to the atomic clock, cancerous growth, atomic energy, agriculture, telecommunications, and many other scientific and technological applications, not least energy production and electricity. While Newton's theory was focused on static inter-space relationships, Einstein's theory was dynamic, and it explored the workings in those Newtonian spaces with regard to motion and time. Thus, Newton was like a designer of a car model which had no life, and Einstein was like the engineer and technologist who put life into that car model, and made it real, and made it move. One wonders whether these two theories can be deployed to produce energy. I am not a scientist, so do not ask me how, but I believe we can tap energy from gravitational pull of the heavenly orbiting bodies or from the light they emanate, or from their radioactivity. Nuclear physics has already shown us how atomic fission and fusion works to produce enormous amounts of power. The world owes a great debt of gratitude to Einstein, whose work came out in 1905 to revolutionize physics, relating time, space, and motion of masses or bodies to a continuum, but basically, related to the trilogy of time, distance, and speed relationship, which we learnt in basic mathematics, mechanics, and science. Over to you, you scientists out there. Solar energy is said to be blue, clean, reliable and renewable. In Ghana, the Fantes call the sun, 'Omaa ndam', which translates literarily as, 'giver of sharpness' or 'the thing which gives sharpness to life', or 'quickener of actions'. Readers will notice the Fante word 'ndam' to be closer to the English word 'dynamo' or 'dynamic'. We have similar words such as 'fun' (pronounced foon) for dead body, akin to the English word, 'funeral', with the same sound as the pronunciation of the first three letters of the word, 'funeral'. The other word in Fante for dead body is 'mum', (pronounced moom), which also means the dumb. It is closer to mummy (Egyptian mummies). My tribesman, Ayi Kwei Armah, has written extensively on these aspects of the similarity of some Akan words with some ancient Egyptian words, testifying to our origins. Light in Akan is 'kan' or 'han', darkness is sum (soom). Ghanaians want 'kan' or 'han' from their energy company, ECG (Electricity Company of Ghana), and not 'sum' or Dumsor. An analogy in grade school geography book, Foundations of Geography by Preece and Wood (I used that book from 1966 to 1970 to do my O Level Geography, as well as other ones by Jarret, Jasper Stembridge, Peoples and Regions of the World, R. B.Bunnett's Geography in Diagrams, Monkhouse' Physical Geography/Geomorphology, Strahler, etc) states that the sun could be the size of a football, while the earth relatively would look like a small grain of groundnut. The sun is approximately 93 million miles away (depending on perihelion and aphelion), yet its glare and power on the earth is awesome. In contrast, the moon is just about 239,000 miles from the earth (depending on apogee and perigee), yet it has no burning power. This is because the moon is a solid spheroid, while the sun is a ball of burning hydrogen, helium, oxygen, plasma, nitrogen, iron, magnesium, among other gases. It is a star. It is conjectured that when the moon was formed, it was only 14,000 miles away (ref: content.time.com/time/specials/pack...). What a wonder of creation by the Creator! A theory which exists states that the universe is forever expanding, and our Milky Way system is moving towards the star Vega (Geography Lecture notes at Legon, 1976). The tides in the oceans are said to be caused by the combined gravitational pull of the sun and the moon. Tidal energy is also renewable, clean, and sustainable. So also are solar, and wind energies. The sun's heat causes water bodies to evaporate and form clouds which come as rain in the hydrological cycle. Thus, insolation or the amount of the sun's energy which hits the earth's surface and atmosphere is paramount for sustenance of all life forms. However, a greater amount of the sun's energy or insolation is lost to space, and also part of it is reflected back to space by the high albedo of the clouds (1976 Geography Lecture notes at Legon). Hydro-Electric Power (HEP) which is generated from dams on rivers has become unreliable due to global warming and incidence of drought in some parts of the world, causing river and lake levels to be below the required levels needed to turn all the turbines. In this article, alternate and clean sources of energy will be discussed in relationship to the difficulties Ghanaians are going through, as regards load-shedding, blackouts, and the 'Dumsor' (Off-on) syndrome, apparently caused by demand exceeding installed capacity or supply of electricity in Ghana. Dirty energy has long since been associated with the hydrocarbons or fossil fuels such as coal, petrol, and diesel. These are the heaviest pollutants of the atmosphere. At least LNG, which occurs above coal and oil deposits in the geosynclines, is also relatively a neater source of energy, except that it has to be drilled at high cost, unlike tapping the universally available solar, wind, and tidal energy sources. Of course, one would also argue that the technology which is involved in tapping solar, wind, and tidal energies could be prohibitive in cost in the short run and not readily accessible by poor developing countries, but then, in the long run, they may be cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. The most dangerous sources of power are nuclear energy, and chemical energy (recall Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in N.E. Japan 2011, Chernobyl Disaster in Ukraine 1986, Union Carbide's Bhopal chemical leak in India in 1984, Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill involving BP, and Alaska Oil Spill involving Exxon-Mobil Valdez 1989, among others). Besides, these fossil fuel, nuclear, and chemical energy sources are non-renewable, non-sustainable, and non-ecologically friendly because they are obtained from mining, chemical, and mechanical reactions and actions. It is up to us in Ghana to look up to diversifying our energy sources and moving with modern trends in the industry. HEP and the traditional fossil fuel sources are becoming obsolete and less trendy. Besides, they are very expensive. Look at the high volatility in oil prices juxtaposed against the high cost of extraction in geosynclines at offshore sites such as the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, while on the one hand, the sandy shales onshore are relatively cheaper to work on in places such as Texas, California, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Canada.Solar EnergyThe new energy sources which Ghana should look to developing on a serious note to overcome the power deficit are solar, wind, tidal, and geothermal. In this article, emphasis will be on the first three sources. It is however reassuring to learn that a UK company is developing a 2.1 billion dollars photo-voltaic plant at Atuabo in the Western Region. The UK, a temperate country with less amount of insolation than Ghana, is one of the leading generators of solar energy in the world. Solar energy is also known as blue energy. It involves tapping of electricity using solar panels or photo-voltaic cells mounted on roof-tops to concentrate and capture the light energy of the sun, which is then converted into mechanical/kinetic energy, and then to electric energy for storage as well as instant usage. We should be seeing solar-powered cars soon. Another method is by thermal stations where solar energy is used to produce steam to turn turbines to generate electricity. In the UK, the government has subsidized households to install solar panels on their houses to generate their own domestic energy, and the surplus is fed into the national grid. The prospect for solar energy use in Ghana is very bright indeed, Ghana being a tropical country with 365 days of sunlight, unlike countries in the temperate and frigid zones which have fewer days of insolation However, the ordinary Ghanaian finds solar panels to be expensive. Some years back, university students at KNUST and Legon in Ghana invented solar-powered cooking stoves. I wonder why these have not been commercialized to hit the Ghanaian market. It will obviate the need to use charcoal whose use causes many trees to be cut and burnt. Majority of Ghanaians in rural areas cook by using firewood or charcoal in braziers or coal-pots. This is very wasteful of our trees and the vegetative cover, which has led to massive erosion, land degradation, formation of carapaces, lateritic soils, and badlands. Solar energy in the UK is tapped in summer and stored for usage in winter. The UK produces a lot of solar energy as their technology has advanced a lot. If we convert to using solar energy in Ghana, we shall save a lot of money and reduce considerably on environmental damage. The Ghana Environmental Protection Authority should be in the forefront in championing the use of alternate sources of energy in Ghana. They should lobby parliament to pass a law to ask companies and institutions to draw up 10-year plans on how they plan to use alternate or renewable energies such as solar, wind, tidal, and other cheaper, safer, cleaner, sustainable, and eco-friendly sources of energy. Solar energy can be tapped anywhere in the world without locational restrictions, so it is versatile or flexible, as it can be tapped both terrestrially onshore, and offshore. Leading solar energy producing countries are Germany, China, USA, Japan, Russia, France, Ukraine, Spain, South Korea, South Africa, Morocco, and Algeria.Wind EnergyAnother source of clean renewable and alternate energy is wind energy. Wind parks or wind farms in the world are mainly located offshore on the sea as there are no obstructions to the wind on the sea. Wind vanes or mills are built and as the wind blows, the blades are propelled and they create mechanical/kinetic energy which is transformed or converted into electrical energy by turbines. The countries in the world which harvest vast amounts of wind-based electricity are Germany, Denmark, China, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and South Korea, among many others. Ghana has vast potential in tapping wind-based energy by building wind parks and farms along the stretch of 539 kilometres coastline from Half Assini in the west to Aflao in the east. Wind power is green or environmentally-friendly. Tidal EnergyApart from wind power, we also have tidal power derived from the ebb and flooding of the tides in the ocean. Keta and Sekondi areas of Ghana's coastline are areas of intense marine erosion, necessitating the building of marine bariers, because of strong sea currents. This threat can be turned into opportunity by siting tidal power stations in those areas. The oceans are vast, and unlike rivers, are not affected by droughts. Besides, ocean resources are global commons and can be universally accessed. Currently, the power blues in Ghana are partially attributed to low levels of water in the Volta Lake and River. VRA and ECG have to conduct global surveys and plan earnestly how we can shift away from HEP-dependent power to alternate and renewable sources such as solar, wind, tidal, and geothermal power. The leading producers of tidal power in the world are France, South Korea, UK, Russia, Israel, and Philippines, among others. Russia has proposed tidal power plants at Mezenskaya, Tugurskaya and Penzhinskaya. The proposed Mezenskaya plant will generate a colossal output of 87,000 MW of power, which perhaps can supply the whole of Africa. Our scientists and technologists such as Dr Christian Kow Gharban in the UK ( formerly of Imperial College), and others at the Ministry of Power, and Ministry of Energy, should be contacted to come up with plans on how to wean us off the over-dependence on fossil fuel-based power sources, which cost us a lot in foreign exchange when we import. In the interim, we could switch over to LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) from our own oil fields, but in the long run, we need to switch to the renewable energy sources of solar, wind, and tidal power. Geothermal EnergyThe last form of renewable energy is geothermal energy which is found in areas of intense volcanic activity such as the Pacific Rim of Fire in places such as Japan, Hawaii, New Zealand, Indonesia, California, among others. The fissures and fault lines in the earth's crust in those places cause molten magma from the interior of the earth to escape towards the surface of the earth, and when trapped, it warms underground water bodies which gush out as geysers or hot springs and spas. These can be tapped to produce enormous amounts of electricity.Benefits of Renewable EnergyIn conclusion, we need to diversity and complement our current energy sources in Ghana so as to meet the annual demand deficit of 10% or 250 MW. We need to be proactive and embrace these renewable energies as quickly as possible as they will lead to decentralization of power supply, create more jobs, lead to lower costs, cleaner environments, and reduce our carbon footprint, thus helping to save our planet. They will create wealth for private providers. The owners of these power sources will not have to deal with ECG or VRA directly as they will be in control of their power sources. Thus, there will be no bureaucracy and Dumsor. The scarce resources of government will be freed for more urgent needs.Sources:1. education.nationalgeographic.com/ed-tidal energy2. www.alternative-energy-news.info/tech Contact: kwesiattasakyi449@gmail.com
