Oyster offshore wave generator is 2.5x better than predecessor
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Power generation from waves continues to develop as Aquamarine Power has unveiled its new, second-generation Oyster 2 wave power generator. According to the company, “The new 800kW device will measure 26 metres by 16 metres and will deliver 250 per cent more power than the original Oyster 1 which was successfully deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney last summer.” A test installation is planned for 2011 and will use three wave devices connected to a single power generation station to produce 2.4 megawatts of electricity.
Like the Pelamis wave generator (now, sadly, sitting on the shore for lack of maintenance funds), the Oyster rides on the surface to harness wave power. This means that Oyster cannot coexist with surface vessels, unlike other underwater systems. But, instead of housing the generator at sea, where conditions are harsh and maintenance and repair are costly, the Oyster system harnesses wave power to drive hydraulic systems and on-shore turbines to produce electricity.
The new Oyster incorporates many improvements over the original design, including simplified construction requiring less steel to produce and design to enable easier mass production. Aquamarine Power expects to deploy Oyster in farms of 100MW generating capacity or more. An animated Oyster video shows more about how the system operates.
via: Inhabitat
Forget wave power, Google and others may use poo power for data centers
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Google has been tinkering with the idea of a floating, wave-powered data center for a while, but it looks like a better solution could come from a more basic power source: manure. Hewlett Packard has released a research paper that states that tech companies like themselves, Google, and Microsoft could benefit from a partnership with dairy farmers, using the cattle waste for fuel.
The research paper says that the dairy farmers could rent out land and power to the tech companies with a return on investment in waste-to-fuel systems in two years, making it a great arrangement for the farmers too. Farmers want to build biogas plants where manure is processed and the methane produced is used in place of natural gas or diesel, but the cost of equipment is often too expensive for them to finance on their own. This is where the tech companies come in.
As companies move their larger and larger data centers into rural areas with plenty of land, teaming up with local farms seems to be a natural fit — farmers need a way to get rid of the vast amounts of waste and tech companies need an affordable, clean source of energy.
An average cow produces enough manure to power a 100-watt light bulb and 10,000 cows could potentially power a 1-MW data center, a small computing center. But another possible link between the farms and companies is that the biogas systems require a lot of heat to make fuel and computing equipment in data centers produce a lot of waste heat, so a loop could be created where the biogas plant powers the data center and the waste heat from the data center helps power the biogas plant.
The paper sees California and Texas as being the testing grounds in the U.S. for this partnership, while China and India could also benefit from such an arrangement.
via NY Times
China’s telecom sector credits telecommuting with huge emissions reductions
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
China’s telecom sector released a report this week claiming that it had slashed emissions by 48.5 million tons of CO2 emissions in 2008 by increasing telecommuting, a greater reliance on electronic data storage and more efficient logistics. This savings is comparable to the amount of emissions Sweden’s entire economy is responsible for each year.
The report came from the WWF and China Mobile who had Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications carry out the study. The report says the emissions savings came from all of the transportation, freight and paper and material production that was avoided by digitizing the sector.
The study also concluded that future increases in telecommuting could save up to 340 million tons of emissions in China by 2020. Even better potential is seen in virtual meetings over air travel, which could save 623 million tons of emissions by 2030.
The report is slightly controversial because the growing energy demand of data centers is increasing emissions, but the report says that those increases are more than offset by the overall emissions savings.
via Guardian
Using underwater kites to generate power
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Minesto, a spin-off from Swedish automaker Saab, is developing what it calls it’s “Deep Green” technology, underwater kites tethered to the ocean floor that could produce continuous energy from tidal flows. A single Deep Green turbine could produce up to 500 kilowatts of electricity. And tides are much more regular than winds, so that the energy produced would be less erratic and variable.
The kites have a 12m (almost 40 ft) wingspan. The kites would remain at least 20m (66 feet) below the surface, to prevent conflicts with ocean navigation and minimize visual impact. Tidal flow as low as 1.6 meters/second can be used to create the lift necessary to move the kite.
Since the underwater kite is anchored to the ocean floor, it is able to move at much faster speeds, which makes the turbine more effective, as it traverses back and forth in order to generate electricity. Although wind-based deepwater offshore power systems are difficult to install and operate, Deep Green tidal kites would be well suited for installation in deeper waters. Furthermore, the underwater kites are much lighter and easier to install than the equipment needed for other deepwater generation systems. Deepwater generating systems have the additional expense and technical hurdles of transmitting the power over a greater distance. But the higher efficiency and more consistent generation offered by Deep Green could offset those drawbacks.
The company indicates the Deep Green system offers an operating cost of 0.06-0.14 Euros/kWh, as compared to 0.15-0.30 Euros/kWh for other tidal systems, and 0.10-0.12 Euros/kWh for offshore wind systems.
A scale model of Deep Green will be tested in Northern Ireland next year as the next stage of development for this system.
via: Slashdot
Four energy technologies that could replace oil
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Every time there’s an energy-related disaster, it boosts the prospects for clean alternatives. Last month’s devastating explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine killed 29, and got people wondering if all that ancient coal shouldn’t just be left in the ground. And the spreading oil slick from the Deep Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico led to a flurry of Congressional bills banning offshore drilling, and rising public sentiment for cleaner alternatives.
The problem is that people’s memories are short. Old arguments, such as coal is “native energy” or offshore oil offsets foreign imports, reassert themselves to reinforce the status quo. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s approval of the Cape Wind Project in Massachusetts April 28 could spur development of the dozen other offshore projects pending in the U.S. (and, indeed, also jumpstart other stalled energy projects).
Since it was first proposed in 2001, Cape Wind has been fighting determined opposition from Cape locals who don’t want to look at spinning white turbines. The tremendous cost of fighting those well-funded special interests has given both developers and potential funders pause. But if Cape Wind now goes forward (the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and its allies are filing lawsuits) it could be a green light for green energy.
Here’s a progress report on four green energy technologies:
Fresh Wind
Google Maps maintains an interactive map of the status of some of America’s pending offshore wind projects. The developing trend is for turbine farms to be located much further out to sea than Cape Wind (which is five miles offshore). There are projects moving forward off the coasts of Rhode Island (Deepwater Wind, 100 turbines, 400 megawatts), New Jersey (Deepwater Wind/PSEG, 96 turbines, 345 megawatts), Delaware (Bluewater Wind, 60 turbines, 450 megawatts) and New York (Con Ed/Long Island Power Authority, size to be determined), among others, and according to the American Wind Energy Association they total a whopping 2,500 megawatts.
The New Jersey project would be 16 to 20 miles offshore, and the Delaware one 11. As the Bangor Daily News recently put it about proposed wind projects there, “Because the turbines will be far enough offshore to not be seen, some aesthetic concerns will be avoided. The floating nature of the proposal also avoids some of the environmental problems posed by disturbing the seabed.”
According to Barbara Hill, executive director of turbine-supporting Clean Power Now, “There are a number of offshore wind projects proposed up and down the East Coast, though none of them have yet filed the required applications to the Minerals Management Service. As Secretary Salazar said, Cape Wind is the first of many wind farms.”
Solar Power Scales Up
“I think the future of solar is in all sizes, from the dinky cell powering your calculator to large utility-scale projects that need to be hooked up to utility lines,” said Bob Noble, CEO of Envision Solar, whose company builds solar “groves” that also include electric car charging. The solar-powered calculators have been are on the market for decades, but utility-grade solar will take longer.
Many of the biggest projects are either in Europe or involve European companies. Abengoa Solar announced this week that it had started commercial operation near Seville, Spain of its 50-megawatt Solnova 1, which uses parabolic trough solar technology. The plant can power 25,700 homes, or offset 31,400 tons of carbon dioxide.
But Abenoga is also moving ahead with two large concentrating solar plants in the U.S., including Solana (in the desert outside Phoenix) and the Mojave Desert Project (California). Another Mojave project, backed by BrightSource and $160 million in investment, got a big boost in February when it received a conditional $1.4 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.
U.S. solar electric capacity is still relatively small-just over 2,000 megawatts, enough to power 350,000 homes. But revenue climbed 36% in 2009. Last year $1.4 billion in venture capital reached solar companies in the U.S. Total U.S. volume is $4 billion. The largest users in the U.S. are in California, including Pacific Gas & Electric (the most installed capacity) and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (the most solar watts per customer).
The key to parabolic technology as backed by Abenoga and BrightSource is mirrors, huge ones. Solnova 1 covers 280 acres. The mirrors concentrate solar radiation onto heat-absorbing pipes carrying a super-heated liquid. Heat transfer turns water to steam, and that steam powers a turbo-generator to create electricity.
Clean tech funder Vinod Khosla, in a briefing paper on utility-scale solar, recently called for stable U.S. and European government incentive schemes, and for the “formation of large-scale, low-cost capital to underwrite low-carbon energy projects” of $100 million to $1 billion. According to Khosla’s paper, a 100-mile by 100-mile solar-equipped section of Nevada desert could meet the full electricity demand of the U.S., and one percent of the world’s desert areas could meet global electricity demand as forecast for 2030.
Khosla predicted that the price of photovoltaic cells is dropping from $2 a watt today to $1 in the near future. Noble of Envision also points out that technical advances have made large-scale solar adoption more feasible. And there are frequent breakthroughs: An MIT group recently coated paper with solar cells, meaning you could put panels up with a staple gun.
Photo: Some of the most exciting developments have been in large-scale solar installations. Credit: Stirling Energy Systems
The New Wave
Wave energy is still a technology awaiting widespread commercialization, though costs are coming down rapidly. According to a federal Department of the Interior study, results from the first commercial-scale projects that capture electricity from the restless movements of the ocean are encouraging. The report said that early facilities in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Massachusetts were able to generate electricity at nine to 11 cents per kilowatt-hour (after tax incentives). The report estimated that the total wave potential from U.S. coastlines to a depth of 60 meters is 2,100 terrawatt-hours annually.
The biggest problem is cost. “These facilities are very capital intensive,” the report said, ranging from $4,000 to $15,000 per kilowatt. “Significant breakthroughs in capital cost would be needed to make this technology cost competitive.” Ocean-based systems take a beating, especially since it’s roughly true that the rougher the water the more energy they can produce.
But wave projects off Scotland could soon be commercialized on a massive scale. According to MIT’s Technology Review, six wave and four tidal projects proposed for the Orkney Islands could produce 1.2 gigawatts. “This industry is about to grow up,” said Martin McAdam, CEO of Edinburgh-based Aquamarine Power.
Photo: The Oyster wave power test project. Credit: Aquamarine Power
Talking Trash
Traditional trash-to-energy plants have a bad name in the U.S., mostly because they simply burn garbage and emit lots of chemicals out of their smokestacks. But a new type of plant that turns trash to electricity and heat is catching on in Europe, and its key feature is filters that capture mercury, dioxin and other toxins before they’re emitted.
According to the New York Times, energy pioneer Denmark (a leader in wind power) has 29 clean trash-to-energy plants, and there are 400 in Europe (Germany and Holland are also leaders). “Their use has not only reduced [Denmark's] energy costs and reliance on oil and gas, but benefited the environment, diminishing the use of landfills and cutting carbon dioxide emissions,” said the Times.
Unlike Europe, the U.S. has plenty of low-cost landfill space, and that combines with the low public opinion of the older technology to create a barrier to adoption of the cleaner approach. Higher upfront costs are also a barrier. Meanwhile, they’re so accepted in Europe that they don’t even affect property values.
Photo: A shuttered trash-to-energy plant in Tulsa. Credit: Janice Waltzer Curtis/Flickr
More from The Daily Green
- 8 Alternative Fuels That Could Replace Oil
- The Most Efficient Cars of 2010
- See Who Won a Heart of Green Award
- 10 Ways to Spruce Up Outdoor Spaces
- What Do Recycling Symbols Mean?
Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.
Solar Aero’s bladeless wind turbine
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
A research company in New Hampshire recently announced the patent of their bladeless wind turbine, which is based on a patent issued to Nikola Tesla in 1913. The Fuller Wind Turbine developed by Solar Aero has only one rotating part, the turbine-driveshaft. The entire assembly is contained inside a housing, so that this turbine offers several advantages versus blade-style (primarily horizontal-axis type) turbines. With a screened inlet and outlet, this turbine does not present a danger to wildlife such as bats and birds. To an outside observer, the only movement visible is the entire turbine housing as it adjusts to track the wind. This also makes it a good candidate for use near military surveillance and radar installations, where moving blades would otherwise cause difficulties.
According to the company, the turbine is expected to deliver power at a cost comparable to coal-fired power plants. Total operating costs over the lifetime of the unit are expected to be about $0.12/kWh. The turbine also should have fewer maintenance requirements, leading to lower lifetime operating costs. The turbine itself can also be supported on magnetic bearings, and all of the generating equipment kept at ground level, which will also make maintenance easier. The company estimates “final costs will be about $1.50/watt rated output, or roughly 2/3 the cost of comparable bladed units.”
The Tesla turbine operates using the viscous flow of a fluid to move the turbine and thereby produce energy. The Tesla turbine “consists of a set of smooth disks, with nozzles applying a moving gas to the edge of the disk. The gases drag on the disk by means of viscosity and the adhesion of the surface layer of the gas. As the gas slows and adds energy to the disks, it spirals in to the center exhaust. Since the rotor has no projections, it is very sturdy.” Disks in the turbine need to be closely spaced in order to capture the viscous flow,. In order to be effective, the Tesla turbine also needs to have extremely thin disks to minimize turbulence at the edges. Tesla was not able to find metals of sufficient quality to make this work effectively, but apparently, nearly a century later, those limitations have been overcome.
Solar Aero’s current example is an unassuming trailer-mounted unit, but a unit the size of the one pictured (see website) “should be capable of 10kW output with no problem,” according to the inventor. The number of disks determines the amount of power that can be produced. It will be interesting to see if this technology takes off, and if the technology is something that can be scaled up to provide utility level power production, or if it is only a niche system. In any case, it is interesting to see alternatives to bladed wind turbines.
Link: Solar Aero
Cape Wind project approved
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has approved the Cape Wind offshore wind farm project! In addition to giving the go-ahead, Salazar outlined a few tweaks to incorporate the concerns of those who have opposed the project.
- The project will be reduced in scope from the original 170 turbines planned to 130.
- Additional marine surveys will be required before construction to make sure the archaeological heritage of the site can be preserved.
- Other measures will need be incorporated to minimize the “visual impact” of the wind farm.
It’s hard to believe it’s been nine years since the first announcement of the project in the Nantucket Sound. Some residents of the surrounding area, including Wampanoag Indian tribes and the late Sen. Kennedy, have opposed the project because they believe it would obstruct their views (and disrupt spiritual rituals and ancient burial sites of the Indians).
But environmentalists around the country and five East Coast governors all rallied for its approval, and in the end, the U.S. is finally getting its first offshore wind farm. The wind farm will have a capacity of 420 MW — enough to meet 75 percent of Cape Cod and the Islands’ electricity needs.
The U.S. leads the world in wind energy capacity, but we’ve lagged behind other countries, especially in Europe, that have forged ahead with offshore wind.
Why is this a big deal? Because offshore wind is stronger, more consistent and near coastal population centers, meaning more power generation, less gaps in electricity and no need for huge transmission networks (like those needed to distribute wind energy generated in the middle of the country).
via Boston Globe
Indonesia harnessing volcano power
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Indonesia’s 17,000 islands are home to hundreds of volcanoes and approximately 40 percent of the earth’s geothermal energy potential and the nation’s government is ready to harness that hot, clean energy.
The country has set a goal of bringing online 4GW of geothermal capacity by 2014, which will almost quadruple the current capacity of 1,189 MW. If you think that sounds ambitious, you’re right. It generally takes three to five years just to complete field exploration and then another three years to actually build a geothermal plant.
And then there’s the cost of the project — $12 billion to be exact. The country is looking to the World Bank, private investors and developed countries like Japan and the U.S. for help raising the money. But once the plants are up and running, they’re basically tapping into endless, clean energy with little overhead required.
Plus, this plan will go a long way towards reaching the Indonesian president’s goals of cutting emissions to 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and adding 10GW of clean energy capacity by 2014.
via AFP
Drawing power from Dutch coastal dikes
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Plans are being considered to turn the famous Dutch dikes into tidal power generators. Although originally built to protect the people and land of the Netherlands, now a committee of various government representatives has issued a recent report including some suggestions to revise the operation of the dikes to create a more pleasant and more natural land behind the dikes, and to provide a source of power. Openings in the series of dikes would provide ideal locations for tidal power plants.
The Netherlands have had protective ocean dikes to guard the coastline since the disaster in 1953 when more than 1800 people were killed and over half a million acres of land was flooded by the North Sea. After this tragedy, the extensive Delta Works were constructed over the next four decades, and the last parts of the project were finally completed in 1997.
Energy, however, is not the primary motivator for this. Instead, it is an interest in restoring the natural condition to estuaries and tidal flats whose character has significantly degraded over the years since the dikes were installed. “Opening water locks would allow the tide to return to now stagnant waters, the report stated. This would be a boon to nature, because certain plants and animals, which have all but disappeared since the estuaries were closed off, can return. Deeper into the delta lies a fresh water basin where smelly algae bloom in the summer. Allowing salt water to reach these outer stretches again could improve conditions for residents and holiday-makers.”
In the aftermath of a catastrophe, it is all to easy to focus solely on preventing that tragedy, no matter the cost. “With all the focus on safety after 1953,” [committee director Joost] Schrijnen said, “other aspects were neglected.” He now wants to change that. “But without sacrificing safety,” he added. Turning the dikes into a power generating solution, as well as improving environmental quality seems like a solution that will provide multiple benefits, in addition to protecting the land from the sea.
link: nrc handelsblad
via: Slashdot
Sungevity wants to put solar panels on the White House (for free!)
May 31, 2010 by John McRae · Leave a Comment
Solar company Sungevity is offering President Obama a free rooftop solar power system for the White House, and to get his attention they’ve launched the Globama campaign.
Sungevity is offering the 102-panel, 17.85 kW solar system, installation and warranty as a free donation, at no cost to the Obamas, the government or tax payers. The only costs associated with the panels would be the upkeep and maintenance. In case the president isn’t comfortable with the $107,900 donation, they’re also offering a 10-year lease of the equipment at $537/month with maintenance and monitoring included.
To sell the idea and to get us all onboard, Sungevity created a website, SolarOnTheWhiteHouse.com, where the company has laid out a full quote, detailing the financial aspects, utility savings, technical information and environmental benefits of the installation. Also at the website, you can sign a petition asking the president to accept Sungevity’s offer.
According to Sungevity, the solar array would reduce the White House electricity bill by 81 percent, or $1,610/month.
