Nanowire Makes Own Electricity
Harvard chemists have built a new wire out of photosensitive materials that is hundreds of times smaller than a human hair. The wire not only carries electricity to be used in vanishingly small circuits, but generates power as well.
Charles M. Lieber, the Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry, and colleagues created the nanowire out of three different kinds of silicon with different electrical properties. The silicon is wrapped in layers to create the wire. When light falls on the outer material, a process begins due to the interaction of the core with the shell layers, leading to the creation of electrical charges.
The idea of creating nanoscale photovoltaics is not new, Lieber said, but prior efforts used organic compounds in combination with semiconductor nanostructures that had lower efficiency and that degraded under concentrated sunlight. Lieber’s materials have several advantages, he said. The materials are more efficient, converting 3.4 percent of the sunlight into electricity; they can withstand concentrated light without deteriorating, gaining efficiency up to about 5 percent; and they’re as cheap to make as other related nanoscale photovoltaic devices.
“The real question is whether there’s a new geometry that will lead to better photovoltaic technology,” said Lieber.
LM Glasfiber Breaks First Ground on New Blade Plant in Arkansas
LM Glasfiber continues to expand its global blade manufacturing capacity in key markets. Recently LM Glasfiber celebrated the ground breaking of its new wind turbine blade factory in Little Rock, Ark. It is LM Glasfiber’s third blade manufacturing facility in North America and the 11th worldwide.
The plant is scheduled to begin operations in the first quarter 2008 and is expected to employ over 1,000 people within five years. The Little Rock plant will effectively double the capacity of the existing factories in Grand Forks, North Dakota and Gaspé, Quebec.
Little Rock was selected as the location for the new factory because it is ideally located to serve some of the areas that today is seeing the highest growth in wind power development in the US, has excellent logistical options and a well-qualified work force.
In his groundbreaking speech, LM Glasfiber CEO Roland Sundén said: “The US has from the beginning been one of the pioneers in wind power, and is today the world’s largest market. Our new plant in Little Rock will help secure LM Glasfiber’s customers’ long term blade supply and support the development of wind power in the US.
For America, the wind energy industry offers an opportunity to diversify its energy portfolio and combat climate change by capitalizing on this limitless resource. But to reap the many benefits of wind power large investments in technology and capacity are needed. Therefore LM Glasfiber and other renewable energy facilities around the country depend on stable and supportive business and policy conditions. We urge the US Congress to provide the long term policy that will make sure the industry can deliver and contribute to create living wage jobs and effectively combat climate change.”
Europeans Threaten Antidumping Action Against U.S. Biodiesel Subsidies
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) has issued a press release threatening legal action against US biodiesel subsidies, which it claims artificially reduce the price of biodiesel sold in the European market by €120 to €180 per metric ton (approximately $0.60 to $0.90 per gallon) compared to what European producers charge.
Under US law, biodiesel, whether used domestically or exported, is eligible for a $1 per gallon biodiesel mixture credit against US federal fuel excise taxes or federal income taxes so long as it is blended with petroleum-based diesel fuel, and is made from feedstocks that qualify it as "agribiodisesel." Other feedstocks are eligible only for a $0.50 per gallon credit.
In March, the EBB had sent a letter to the European Commission concerning both US and Argentinian biodiesel subsidies. No action appears to have been taken on that letter.
Most European biodiesel is produced from rapeseed, which is the equivalent of canola used in some US and Canadian biodiesel production. Most biodiesel in the United States and Argentina is produced from soybean oil, and European Union standards for biodiesel have typically made it more difficult for soybean-based biodiesel to be imported into the European Union. Nonetheless, the EBB claims that US exports to the European Union have increased from 90,000 metric tons in 2006 to 700,000 metric tons to date in 2007. Total US biodiesel production in 2006 was estimated at one million metric tons, but has increased significantly this year.
The EBB's press release threatened action both before European antidumping authorities and before the World Trade Organization. The US biodiesel subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2008, but are quite likely to be extended.
Diesel fuel is used far more extensively for passenger cars in Europe than in the US, and the European Union has a goal of 10 percent use of biofuels by 2020. However, the EBB claims that the US subsidies (which the EBB asserts are also taken advantage of by Asian biodiesel producers who transship through the US) are shutting down European biodiesel production and making expansion of such production difficult.
MMA Renewable Ventures and WorldWater & Solar Technologies to Build Solar Energy System at Denver International Airport
MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC (MMA) and WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp. have made plans to construct a two-megawatt (MW) solar energy system at Denver International Airport (DIA). Upon its completion in 2008, the photovoltaic system is expected to generate 3.5 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity annually at DIA.
The new ground mounted tracking solar array system will be located at the entrance to DIA’s main terminal. The system will be financed by MMA Renewable Ventures, which will own and operate the system and sell predictably priced power to DIA under a long-term contract or Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
“By purchasing clean power rather than solar panels, DIA will benefit from a renewable energy system that is cost-effective from the day it becomes operational and for years to come,” said Matt Cheney, CEO of MMA Renewable Ventures. “Our collaborative effort with DIA serves as an example of how successful public-private partnership can help municipal facilities make the most of the tax credits and other incentives available for solar energy.”
The project is part of the Xcel Energy Solar Rewards program and will receive a rebate to offset the upfront construction costs. Xcel Energy will purchase the renewable energy credits from the clean electricity produced in support of Colorado’s Renewable Energy Standard, which requires large utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020.
GE Energy Signs $730 Million Agreement with EDP
GE Energy has signed a global frame agreement with the renewable area of EDP – Energias de Portugal, SA, the world’s fourth largest wind project developer, to supply wind turbines totaling more than 500 megawatts of new capacity for wind projects to be developed during 2008 and 2009 in Europe and the US. Total value of the agreement will be $730 million, bringing GE Energy’s recent wind turbine order announcements to more than $1 billion.
Under the frame agreement with EDP, GE will supply Neo Energia, the European renewable branch of EDP, with 80 2.5xl wind turbines for new wind projects in Europe. GE will also provide Horizon Wind Energy LLC, EDP’s American branch, with 201 1.5-megawatt wind turbines for projects in the US, at sites yet to be determined.
“In the U.S. and around the world, we continue to see strong interest in the production of cleaner, wind-generated electricity,” said Victor Abate, vice president-Renewables for GE Energy. “In the U.S. alone, more than 2,400 megawatts of new wind power was installed in 2006 while worldwide, more than 15,000 megawatts were installed, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.”
The European phase of the frame agreement represents GE’s largest supply of 2.5xl wind turbines to date. Introduced last year, the 2.5xl is the largest GE wind turbine for onshore applications and is designed to meet the immediate requirements of the European Union, where the lack of available land constrains the size of projects.
OEB Approves Canadian Renewable Energy Corporation Application for Wind Farm Transmission Facilities
The Ontario Energy Board has issued an order granting an application by Canadian Renewable Energy Corp. for leave to construct transmission facilities connecting its Wolfe Island wind farm to the transmission grid.
The project involves the construction of approximately 12.1 kilometres of single circuit 230 Kilovolt (kV) underground and submarine electricity transmission line and associated facilities. The transmission line would extend from a new transformer station located on Wolfe Island to the Hydro One Networks, Inc. (Hydro One) Gardiner transformer station where it will connect with existing Hydro One 230 kV transmission lines.
After consideration of the evidence, the Board found the transmission line to be in the public interest. In making its determination the board noted the project will have no impact on transmission rates in Ontario. The board also noted evidence demonstrating that Canadian Renewable Energy Corp. had consulted with the local community and other stakeholders directly, and in the course of the environmental assessment
Coruña, Galicia’s Solar PST Opens Their Largest European Factory of Solar Panels
The Coruña, Galicia based company Solar PST has undergone a large expansion with the opening of a new factory in Portugal’s Pavoa de Vazim. The new factory is the largest plant of thermodynamic solar panels in Europe and occupies 3,000 sq meters. With an investment of two million euros, the new Solar PST plant is designed to supply all of Europe and the US through its international distributors.
Solar PST is hoping to sell its first 10,000 thermodynamic panels by the end of this year. Its executive director Pablos Fernández calculates that during the next year they will have placed more than 12,000 panels in the market. The installation of these first 10,000 panels will prevent the emission of hundreds of tons of CO2 into the environment.
Solar PST’s thermodynamic solar panels work to overcome the common limitation of lack of sunlight and instead capture the heat of the rain and wind on both sides. In addition, sun saturation and lower temperatures outside do not affect the panel’s efficiency.
In the last few years, Solar PST has installed panels in pools of 600, 400 and even 40 square meters, has heated up sanitary waters and produced a 100 percent increase in water temperatures in hospitals, hotels and other living spaces. The company has also designed thermodynamic solar panels for domestic and family area use.
Study Backs Consumer Desires to use More Renewable Fuels
More than 5 million jobs and $700 billion in economic activity could be generated if the US pursued a plan to get 25 percent of its energy from homegrown sources by the year 2025, according to a study conducted by the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural Economics Center. The data, commissioned by the 25x’25 coalition last year, supports a new poll conducted by Harris Interactive in which nearly nine in 10 respondents agreed the nation should pursue renewable energy sources.
“This study validates the consumers’ confidence that our country can in the near future transition to cleaner, cheaper and renewable energy sources,” said Doug Durante, executive director of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, which commissioned the poll.
The study, entitled 25 Percent Renewable Energy for the United States By 2025: Agricultural and Economic Impacts, outlines how America can achieve more renewable energy usage while still allowing for reasonable food, feed and fuel prices.
The University of Tennessee researchers used two computer models to conclude the US is capable of generating 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources, such as 86 billion gallons of ethanol, by the year 2025. Currently, renewable energy accounts for about 6 percent of the country’s overall energy use. Reaching the goal is contingent on commercial introduction of cellulosic ethanol conversion and the development of an energy-dedicated crop economy with 105.8 million planted acres.
“With the latest scientific advances in cellulosic ethanol technology and increased production of corn ethanol, we are well on our way to meeting the ethanol needs of tomorrow,” Durante said. “The additional supply of ethanol is projected to decrease gasoline consumption by 59 billion gallons in 2025 and that is exactly the positive direction we need to head towards for the future.”
The Harris Interactive poll, released Oct. 15, showed significant support of renewable energy. Eighty-eight percent of US adults agreed that the US should pursue development and 78 percent think the use of ethanol would lessen our countries’ dependence on foreign oil.
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