Apple exploring alternative wind power technology and motion-control Mac mice

techcrunch.com
27 Dec 2012

Apple's patent filings today reveal one concept outside their usual product-focused applications, detailing a method for harnessing wind power in a manner different from that employed in traditional turbines. Electricity gathered from a wind turbine would be converted to heat energy and stored in a "low-heat capacity fluid" in Apple's patent, allowing it to be tapped on an as-needed basis whenever the wind dies down.

It all gets pretty technical, but painted in broad strokes, the system would potentially use the motion of the rotor shaft moving against a "low-heat capacity fluid" (such as ethanol or mercury, for instance) to generate heat through friction between the two surfaces. This can then be transferred from the storage fluid to a working fluid which is then boiled off to release steam. The steam powers a turbine, converting the energy to usable form.

Apple's system differs from basic wind-power generators that are highly subject to variances in wind power, as well as systems that use batteries to store energy made through rotational energy for later use when wind isn't actively making that much power. Instead, it is designed to make wind power available on a more "on-demand" basis, which is of significant importance for facilities requiring a constant, uninterrupted power supply. That likely explains why Apple is pursuing this kind of tech: Its massive data centers have huge power requirements, and the company has stated its commitment to harnessing wind, solar and other alternative energy sources to help keep these facilities running smoothly.

So far, Apple has been working mostly on building solar farms and biogas generators to help fulfill its energy needs at data center locations like the one it has in Maiden, NC, and competitor Google recently revealed that it has powered a data center with wind power for the first time.

Read More…

SunPower invests in Australian renewable electricity retailer Diamond Energy

www.benzinga.com
9 Oct 2012

SunPower today announced that it has invested in Diamond Energy Pty Ltd, a privately-owned, alternative energy project developer and clean electricity retailer headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Aligning with Diamond Energy will allow SunPower to offer more comprehensive and customizable clean energy solutions for customers in Australia. The unique partnership creates a one-stop shop for consumers, providing high efficiency solar electric systems, grid-source renewable energy, and retail services such as metering, billing, and management of exported electricity to the grid.

SunPower has acquired a minority stake of approximately 42% in Diamond Energy and under terms of the agreement has an option to increase its ownership percentage over time. SunPower will also assume a seat on the company's board of directors.

"SunPower is taking a step closer to its customers by investing in an electricity retailer like Diamond Energy", said Tom Werner, president and CEO of SunPower Corp. "More customers will see solar as a cost-effective way to meet growing energy demands, especially as the price of conventional grid power increases in Australia. Through this partnership, SunPower and Diamond Energy are poised to deliver affordable, renewable electricity services that cover everything from the generator to the household electricity meter. We look forward to this new venture and expect it to serve as a model for SunPower's continuing evolution into a complete energy solutions provider".

Established in 2004, Diamond Energy specializes in developing, delivering and managing renewable generation, cogeneration and interruptible load projects with a breadth of experience spanning solar, bioenergy, wind and wave technologies. The company currently owns two biogas plants, has power purchase agreements with a number of third-party generators and as Australia's "Solar Friendly Retailer" sells clean energy through its retail divisions to its residential and Commercial Green customers. Diamond Energy holds licenses to deliver electricity across the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEM) in Australia.

"This investment by SunPower supports the growth and strengthens Diamond Energy for the upcoming clean energy revolution", said Diamond Energy Managing Director Tony Sennitt. "We generate change here at Diamond, and through this relationship we will be able to bring the world's most efficient and reliable solar technology to a broad range of households and businesses throughout Australia at affordable prices. We look forward, with SunPower's support, to expanding the business into a shining, renewable example of what can be achieved when innovative value is delivered to customers".

eBay to power data center with Bloom Energy's renewable energy fuel cells

www.mercurynews.com
21 Jun 2012

eBay said it plans to build a data center powered by startup Bloom Energy's renewable energy fuel-cells, a more environmentally friendly alternative to drawing power from the mostly coal-based electric grid. The U.S, online auction sales group will use 30 Bloom Energy servers that use biogas derived from renewable organic waste and will only use the grid as a back-up source of power. Last month, Apple said it was buying equipment from SunPower and Bloom Energy to build two solar array installations to power its main U.S, data center.

Concerns about the ever-expanding power consumption of computer data centers have mounted in recent years, as technology companies build enormous facilities housing servers to cater to an explosion in Internet traffic, multimedia use and enterprise services hosting. "eBay is raising the standard for the entire industry. It is 21st century infrastructure for the industry needs of the 21st century", said KR Sridhar, chief executive of Sunnyvale-based Bloom Energy, said in a statement.

Fuel Cell Energy

news.cnet.com
15 Mar 2012

Hydrogen fueling stations--they're coming: Two key players in the hydrogen manufacturing arena will be working together to make hydrogen fueling stations a reality for the fuel-cell vehicles that should be coming to market in the second half of this decade.

Air Products and FuelCell Energy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to market stationary Direct Fuel Cell (DFC) power plants. These systems, manufactured by FuelCell Energy, are designed to take natural gas or renewable biogas and produce hydrogen, electricity, and heat.

Read more…

The hidden cost of infinite energy (Part 2)

www.theglobalmail.org
7 Feb 2012

The chief of Australia’s largest electricity network decries that he has no incentive to rein in our demand for power. Well, academics led by economist Chris Dunstan are touting a detailed plan to slow Australia’s energy spending, drive down prices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The energy bosses are listening. But is Canberra ready to act?

Read more…

The hidden cost of infinite energy (Part 1)

www.theglobalmail.org
6 Feb 2012

Australian power bills are soaring, and much of the cost is not about the actual electricity, but building the gargantuan infrastructure to deal with our unchecked energy use.

Read more…

An excellent two-part series from Ellen Fanning explaining what is wrong with Australia's electricity generation and distribution system and how we can improve its efficiency and lower costs.

The power plays of the future

The Saturday Age
16 July 2011, Page: 6

ASSUMING the government's climate legislation gets the parliamentary green light, it promises more than just forcing large industries to pay for their carbon dioxide emissions. The plan includes a Clean Energy Finance Corporation, with about $10 billion to spend over five years on seed loans, loan guarantees and equity funding for new technologies that may not otherwise get off the ground.

There will also be $1.7 billion in unspent grants handed over to a separate new body, the Australian Renewable EnergyAgency. And there will be money to improve energy efficiency, which some experts say can yield the biggest emissions cuts and financial savings in the early years. What might the energy supply of the future look like? The Saturday Age profiles six emerging technologies.

Biogas
Melbourne Water was thinking odour pollution, not climate change, when it began capturing the gas released from massive lagoons of sewage at its Western Treatment Plant. It was not until it gained a clearer picture of the amount of gas emitted from the Werribee plant mostly methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than CO₂ that it realised its broader potential.

Partnering with energy company AGL Energy, it built a biogas fired power plant on site. Methane is captured by air tight lagoon covers, funnelled in the bio gas plant and used to generate about 95% of the energy needed on site. "People would probably be surprised to know that sewage is effectively powering one of Australia's biggest sewage treatment facilities. It's the ultimate feedback loop", said Melbourne Water spokesman Paul Pretto.

While cutting odour has been the main driver, the organisation estimates the biogas program has cut the plant's emissions by 330,000 tonnes since 2005, and reduced its annual energy bill by about $3 million Another $2 million a year has been saved at its Eastern Treatment Plant at Bangholme.

Melbourne Water is one of about 500 companies facing the carbon price its two treatment plants emit about 180,000 tonnes a year, equating to a $4.1 million bill but it says its liability has already been dramatically reduced. It is still evaluating the impact of the carbon price, but expects investment in biogas to become more attractive. Technology for converting methane to biogas is also being explored by landfill sites and coalmines.

Large scale solar
Has a project had more false dawns in the public mind than the large scale solar power plant planned for north west Victoria? Promised in 2006 to employ world leading photovoltaic solar technology, the 154 MW proposal hit a roadblock in September 2009, when developer Solar Systems went into administration. The technology was eventually bought by Sydney based Silex Systems, Australia's only solar panel manufacturer.

Nearly 18 months on, work is about to start on a two MW demonstration plant near Mildura. Subject to the pilot's success, Silex Systems plans to start work on the full station at a reduced capacity of 100 MWs next year. Generation is expected to start in 2014. The company says the power generated through its unique technology, using giant parabolic mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays, will be enough to run 40,000 homes.

Despite its delays, the Silex Systems plan is ahead of the curve, and already has $125 million in government support. Two other plants using different technology one at Moree in outback NSW, the other at Chinchilla in Queensland last month won a combined $770 million from the now defunct solar flagships scheme. Silex Systems chief executive Michael Goldsworthy said the carbon price package should help other solar plants get developed. "It's the first step in closing the gap between renewables and coal fired power", he said. "But ultimately the costs are coming down anyway, and we expect solar to reach grid parity [in price] within five years".

Geothermal energy
Melbourne consultants Hot Dry Rocks built a business locating good geothermal energy sites places where the heat of the Earth could be tapped and used to, one day, power the grid. Usually, it helps others identify the best site for drilling and then moves on. It is now branching out, looking to generate a different type of energy in the coal rich Latrobe Valley. It plans geothermal on a small scale, starting with a 500 kW pilot plant that would draw enough heat from about 600 metres beneath the surface to power about 500 houses. If successful, the vision is of tiny geothermal plants dotted across the valley.

Hot Dry Rocks technical director Graeme Beardsmore said the company had $217,000 from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries and had applied for another $997,000. It would need another $3.5 million to start drilling. As with larger geothermal projects, the challenge in winning financial backing has been the lack of a precedent, and uncertainty over whether the technology can develop to compete with fossil fuels. "That's one of the big barriers we have found in getting investment for our clients. Investors say, 'Show us one working on scale,'" Dr Beardsmore said.

While the Clean Energy Finance Corporation would not offer immediate help for the Hot Dry Rocks pilot, he said it could prove vital to give the industry a kick start later in the decade. "I think this is what the geothermal industry has been waiting for from the federal government a bit of direction and a bit of steel in their spine".

Wave energy
For Carnegie Corporation Wave Energy, a big injection of cash into Australia's renewable s industry couldn't have come at a better time. In two years, the WA based company hopes to build a five MW power project in the waters near Garden Island, south of Perth, enough to power 3000 homes a year.

Carnegie Corporation managing director Michael Ottaviano said it would be the largest wave energy project in the world. Electricity would be generated through 20 or so pumps submerged 25 metres in the ocean, driven by the ocean's swell. They would send a stream of pressurised water to shore via a pipe, turning a standard hydropower electricity turbine.

"Effectively it is a hydroelectric project, but instead the pressure is not caused by a dam or mountain, it is created by a novel pumping technology", Dr Ottaviano said. Carnegie Corporation has just finished a trial using one pump with positive results. Dr Ottaviano said it had given the company confidence to push ahead with the full scale project.

The company is now seeking $50 million to bring the project to scale. It has attracted $12 5 million from the WA government and is looking to the Commonwealth for the rest. "What we've got is a project that is ready to go, and in fact is already underway, so the money can be put to use immediately" Dr Ottaviano said.

He said the new independent grants authority would be the first stop to fund the project. If successful in Perth, Carnegie Corporation could then look to the $10 billion clean energy Financing corporation or the private market to develop other projects around the country, including at three sites in Victoria: Portland, Warrnambool and Phillip Island.

Nano solar
It is technology that could revolutionise the solar industry and do away with bulky rooftop panels: tiny solar cells one millionth of a millimetre in diameter that can be printed on surfaces such as glass, steel and plastic and used for powering homes or as part of large scale stations.

The technology is being perfected by researchers at University of Melbourne, in partnership with CSIRO, who hope they can make it commercially available in five to 10 years. Before it can be be commercialised the efficiency of the new technology which currently generates just half the power of standard solar panel technology will need to be improved.

The researchers are seeking a corporate partner or venture capital, potentially through the new funding bodies, to help build more panels to refine the technology. The tiny panels are made from crystals called nanoparticles. Nano crystal panels are suspended in a liquid such as ink and then printed onto fiat surfaces. The ink dries and the panels are connected to the electricity grid.

"They could be used for either smaller scale uses like households generation, but also largescale power generation where you set up in a field, or somewhere in the desert, large arrays of these types of solar panels", said researcher Brandon Mac Donald.

Mr MacDonald envisages long strips of thin metal or plastic 75 centimetres wide and several kilometres long painted with the panels, rolled out over vast stretches of land and hooked up to the energy grid. For households, the panels could be painted onto windows and rooftops, removing the need to install chunky solar systems.

Trigeneration
About 70% of the electricity generated at the large, remote power plants in the Latrobe Valley does not reach the final destination. Most of the energy is lost into the atmosphere, either in the generation process or during transmission. To tackle this, City of Sydney is bringing its energy generation on site. Using a complex system of small generators and pipes, it plans to capture the energy lost during generation and use it to heat and cool major buildings in the city. The process is known as trigeneration.

While the Sydney project will be funded through partnerships with energy companies the first tenders are being worked through now some of the money from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation is expect to help finance other trigeneration schemes.

Leading the project for the Sydney Council is Allan Jones a UK born engineer, not the shock jock. He said the project would cut emissions from city buildings by 40 to 60% by 2030.A series of small, natural gas fuelled power generators, potentially generating 360 MWs, will be built around the city on and in council buildings.

The heat created by the generators that would otherwise be lost will be captured and put through a network of underground pipes to warm buildings and provide hot water. A thermal cooler will be used to chill the same water through the pipe network for refrigeration and air conditioning. Mr Jones said the project would both deliver emissions cuts and shield landlords from electricity price hikes due to a carbon price.

Research key to new sources

Adelaide Advertiser
6 April 2011, Page: 26

GOVERNMENT plans to establish the Australian Biofuels Research Institute will encourage a more commercial focus for bioenergy. Support would go to projects for second generation biofuels (including algae) and biopower and bioheat projects. Bioenergy involves converting biomass to heat, electricity or fuels, including using sugar cane residues, wood waste and biogas from landfill. The challenge for first generation biofuels such as ethanol was to be economic without subsidies.

Looking past coal to mine dumps and sewers

Sydney Morning Herald
Friday 3/12/2010 Page: 4

THE bright tights of Sydney's central business district will be powered by rotting agricultural waste and sewage harvested from a 250-kilometre radius around the city, under a new plan to move away from coalfired energy.

The city's master plan relies on 27 existing or proposed trigeneration plants, mainly concealed in the basements of public buildings and city offices, to free the city of its dependence on the Hunter Valley coal that accounts for 80% of central Sydney's greenhouse gas emissions. The gas-driven trigeneration plants would convert plant matter to biogas, helping to cut the city's carbon emissions by 70% by the middle of the century. Meeting the target would put Sydney at the forefront of global cities converting from high to low carbon energy.

The plan comes as the World Meteorological Organisation prepares to release its annual review this morning, showing that 2010 has been one of the three hottest years on record, in line with the projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The City of Sydney's plan could reduce household electricity bills across the state, which have risen sharply recently to pay for new infrastructure to support the existing coal-based network. The council believes it can reduce the need for spending on new transmission infrastructure by generating energy locally and improving efficiency.

"We set an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030", said the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore. "We made that commitment not because we thought it would be easy but because the best available research said it is needed to play our part in diverting catastrophic climate change".

The council estimated the cost of the project - which it expects will include public-private partnerships would be $950 million over 20 years, and would show a 10 to 20% return on investment for trigeneration operators.

"It sounds a lot but in comparison the NSW energy companies are set to spend $17.4 billion over the five years to 2014 on upgrading the electricity network of wires, poles and substations", Cr Moore said. And the NSW government has given consent and concept approval to two new coal-fired power stations at the cost of $7 billion".

Allan Jones, the city's chief development officer for energy and climate change, said trigeneration plants would be cheaper than many sources of renewable energy. They would also costless than coal-fired power with carbon sequestration, in which emissions are pumped underground so they do not enter the atmosphere.

"There is no single silver bullet here we do need decentralised energy, we do need renewable energy, we do need measures to be undertaken around transport", Mr Jones said. " [Trigeneration] is more economic than large-scale wind, solar PV [photovoltaic] and way, way more economic than coal-fired carbon capture and sequestration".

The speed at which the plan can be implemented will depend upon the introduction of a national carbon price, which will add some of the costs of greenhouse emissions to heavy polluting sources of power, and therefore make low-carbon power more competitive. A tender period for companies hoping to build and operate the trigeneration plants will close in January, and construction is expected to begin on several of them at once in 2013.

Power to the canny farmer

Hobart Mercury
Tuesday 26/10/2010 Page: 4

A TASMANIAN farmer aims to use fresh air and "fart gas" to combat skyrocketing electricity prices. A $28.000 Nuffield Scholarship will allow chicken and turkey farmer Rob Nichols to investigate the conversion of manure and chicken guts into gas. Mr Nichols also will investigate wind power. He has already installed a 30m-diameter, 225-kW wind turbine on his North-West farm and is passionate about alternative energy.

Mr Nichols said the turbine, which supplies about half the farm's electricity needs, acted as a security shield against rising electricity prices. He said he hoped the farm, which produces the famous Nichols free-range chickens, could further reduce its dependence on the power grid by producing biogas. The process involves throwing manure, chicken waste and green plant material into a digester, which acts like a giant cow's stomach. It gives off "fart gas", mostly methane, which can be burned to produce heat and electricity. The solid by-product is nutrient-rich, doesn't smell and can be used as fertiliser.

Mr Nichols said the scholarship would enable him to study the process in Germany, where entire farms have been dedicated to energy production, and Denmark, which pioneered wind and bioenergy decades ago. He said he was convinced that there were opportunities for energy production on Tasmanian farms, depending on how Federal Government incentives panned out Mr Nichols said he also saw potential for energy crops, such as grass to be grown for the digesters. "I see the home production of renewable energy as an industry that holds significant openings for the Australian farming industry", he said. The scholarship will allow Mr Nichols to study animal welfare advances on European poultry farms.

Biogas project to provide green energy

vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn
October, 13 2010

HA NOI -- A pilot project to install over 500 biogas generators for households, businesses, farms and small enterprises nationwide is being carried out through next year as part of Toyota Motor Viet Nam's Go Green Programme. The project aims to protect the environment and reduce pollution by using biogas to generate electricity for daily and business use, Toyota representatives told a seminar yesterday in the central city of Da Nang. Farmer Mai Tan Trien of Da Nang's Hoa Vang District, among a number of farmers to participate in the project, said his farm was saving millions of dong from using waste from his chickens to produce biogas to generate electricity.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga, who is heading up the biogas scheme, said a kilowatt-hour of power produced from biogas would save 400ml of fuel and cut CO2 emissions by onekg. Toyota Viet Nam general director Akito Tachibana said the pilot project would be expanded to thousands of household businesses and farms in remote and disadvantaged areas by 2012.

Finland to push for renewable, wind energy with feed-in tariff subsidies

www.bloomberg.com
Sep 16, 2010

Finland will promote renewable energy with fixed prices for wind and biogas power to encourage producers to meet emission targets set by the European Union. Feed-in tariffs, a set price guaranteed to producers, come into force on Jan. 1 and will last for 12 years, the government in Helsinki said today in an e-mailed statement. Finland is seeking ways to add non-polluting power generation to meet a need in a country that consumes per capita more than twice the electricity used by Germany because of its cold climate and energy-intensive industries such as paper making. Finland, which currently has four nuclear reactors and is building a fifth, also in July approved permits for two more units scheduled to come online in the 2020s.

The country must increase the share of renewable energy to 38% by 2020 from about 28% in 2008 to help Europe reduce its emissions of CO2, a gas blamed for warming the planet, according to a plan by members of the European Union. The Nordic country will also reduce energy demand to help meet the goal, the government has said. The feed tariffs will increase wind power in Finland to 6TW-hours by 2020, the government said. Wind power accounted for 0.3% of the 80.8TW-hours of electricity consumed in 2009. Finnish Energy Industries said on its website. Renewable generation increased 15% in 2008. Statistics Finland data shows.

To Parliament
Finland is seeking alternative sources of energy to supplement nuclear power because it lacks the oil and hydropower supplies of neighbours such as Russia and Norway, which gets almost all of its electricity from water. The motion will tomorrow be sent to parliament for approval. Finland had 118 wind turbines at the end of 2009 with a combined capacity of 147MW-hours, the Finnish Wind Power Association said on its website.

The target for the feed-in tariffs will be 83.50 euros ($109) aMW-hour, the government said. Electricity from biogas will get an additional 50 euros aMW-hour for combined heat and power generators. For the first three years, wind power would be paid 105 euros aMW-hour to ensure implementation, the government said. Finland imports about 15% of the electricity used in the country. Fortum Oyj, Finland's biggest utility, owns stakes in wind power generators Tunturituuli Oy and Hyoetytuuli Oy as well as a stake in a wind plant in Olkiluoto, Finland.

The Danish Island that went Carbon Negative

www.newwest.net
Fri, 11 Jun 2010

Denmark is primarily a nation of 444 Islands, 76 of them inhabited. The capital Copenhagen is located on the largest island Zealand, and the second largest island Funen is the home of Hans Christian Andersen. These days the Danish Island most in the news is Samsoe, situated between Jutland and Zealand. Twice the size of Manhattan, the island used to be known mainly for its delicious strawberries and potatoes. Today the Samsingers, as the 4,200 people on Samsoe call themselves, are the first in the industrialised world to reach a carbon negative state. They used to be totally dependent on petroleum imports and electricity from coal-fired plants on the mainland. Before 1998 each Samsinger was responsible for 11 metric tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere. Annually each American puts 19 metric tons into the air.

By installing wind turbines, solar panels, and burning biomass in "closed" furnaces, the Samsingers have now reduced their CO2 emissions by 140%. By 2005 they had reached 100% and had attained carbon neutrality. The additional 40% reduction means that they are now carbon negative: they are exporting more energy than they consume. In 1997 the Samsingers thought they had a good chance to win a national competition for "Renewable Energy Island." An engineer came over from the mainland and did some wind and sunshine studies, and together they sent their proposal off to Copenhagen.

They won the competition and the prize was $90 million in grants from the Danish government over ten years. The government gave the Samsingers full reign in deciding how to increase their energy efficiency. Raising 80% of their own capital, the residents installed 11 1 MW wind turbines and set up many smaller household turbines. Most of the turbines are cooperatively owned and those shareholders include 1,100 of the 50,000 tourists who visit the island during the summers. Each year the island uses 26 million kW hours, but there is 80 million kW hours left over that is sold to the national grid for $8 million a year.

To off-set the 690,000 gallons of gas and diesel still used in their cars, tractors, and ferries, the Samsingers invested in 10 sea-based 2.3MW wind turbines, which greet visitors as they arrive at the ferry terminal. The Samsingers are expanding their biogas production to include methane from pig waste, and they are also experimenting with the production of hydrogen, which can be used to run fuel-cells. A century ago Danish scientist Paul La Cour used wind mills to produce hydrogen for the lights at Askov Folk High School. Under his leadership wind power produced 3% of Denmark's electricity by 1918. Cheap oil then put an end to this early green development.

Danish scientists, working at a research center once devoted to nuclear energy, are again on the cutting edge of hydrogen production. On the Danish island of Lolland wind mills are producing 50% more power than the people consume, so the Lollanders are electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen and oxygen, which is used to speed up the treatment of the island's sewage.

Along with Israel, Denmark is starting to build charging stations for electric vehicles, so these cars will soon be on Danish highways in greater numbers than elsewhere. The Danish government is waiving the 200% excise tax on conventional vehicles to encourage Danes to switch to electric transportation. Teaming up with the American company Better Place, Danish utility DONG Energy is laying out $103 million for 500,000 charging stations and 150 battery swap depots strategically located for longer trips. One might ask why Better Place is not doing business with U.S, utilities, and the answer is that, except for negotiations with Hawaii and San Francisco, there is neither the political will nor the government support to make innovation such as this happen.

On the Danish island of Bornholm an experiment with "vehicle-to-grid" power storage is now in place for the 40,000 inhabitants. Parked vehicles will serve as storage for the excess wind power produced on the island. When the weather is calm, electricity flows back into the grid making unnecessary the reliance on coal-fired plants. Only 400,000 electric cars used in this manner would be needed to take up the slack when Denmark's 5,200 turbine rotors are not turning.

The Samsingers, the Lollanders, and Bornholmers, mostly conservative farmers, say that they are just ordinary people. Their challenge is that if they can become carbon neutral, then anyone on earth can follow their lead. With sufficient political will and cooperative effort every nation could kick its petroleum habit and planet earth could be saved from ecological disaster.

Cow Power in China: World's largest cow manure project to produce energy by using GE's Jenbacher Biogas Technology

www.marketwatch.com
May 5, 2010

ENBACH, Austria, May 05, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) - - Helping to alleviate China's energy shortage, GE's ecomagination-approved Jenbacher biogas engines will power the new Liaoning Huishan Cow Farm, which, once completed, will become world's largest biogas project based on cow manure.

The manure from the 250,000 cows at the Huishan farm, located in Shenyang, China, will be converted into biogas and is expected to produce 38,000MWh a year through four GE JMS420 Jenbacher gas engines. The energy generated will be sold to the state grid in China. One of the features of the project is the utilisation of fuel circulation. In addition to the use of biogas for power generation, the liquid (residual from biogas production) will be used to nourish the grass in the pasture, and the solid waste can be sold as organic fertiliser, thus the surrounding land will become a base for organic agriculture.

When the new biogas power generation project is completed, it will be the world's largest cow manure project. It will not only serve China's national economic and environmental development goals, but it also is expected to reduce about 180,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. "The disposal and treatment of biological waste represents a major challenge for the waste industry," said Mr. Xu Guangyi, vice president of Liaoning Huishan Cow Farm. "GE's efficient, durable and reliable Jenbacher biogas engines will allow us to face that challenge by maximising the use of an economical energy supply--cow manure."

Biogas offers customers several advantages. It provides an alternative disposal of dung, liquid manure and biowaste, while simultaneously harnessing them as an energy source, a substitute for conventional fuels. It also has the high potential for reduction in greenhouse gases and is highly efficient for combined on-site power and heat generation. In addition, the remaining substrate from the digester can be used as high-quality, agricultural fertiliser, characterised by neutralising the acid effect with a higher ph-value, keeping nutrients retained and nearly odourless.

"Our Jenbacher biogas engines allow us to provide customers with a cost-effective, high-output means of generating power by using waste material from agriculture as an alternative energy source while substantially and measurably reducing emissions," said Prady Iyyanki, CEO-gas engines for GE Power & Water. "We are glad to be a part of the Huishan gas energy project as China and other countries in Asia seek to harness their own diverse renewable and alternative resources to create cleaner sources of energy." The Huishan Cow Farm is scheduled to begin commercial operation in September 2010.

Nuclear not the cheapest path for Australia: OECD

www.smh.com.au
March 27, 2010

NUCLEAR power will be the Western world's cheapest option for electricity in an age of significant carbon charges, but Australia will be one of the few exceptions, a global study has found. In a stunning conclusion, the study by the OECD and the International Energy Agency found that even with a carbon charge of $US30 ($A33) a tonne, it ill be cheaper for Australian generators to burn black coal and send the emissions into the atmosphere than to turn to gas or other low-emission alternatives.

And even on the optimistic assumption that carbon can be captured and stored for $US17.50 to $US25 a tonne, it will be cheaper, it found, for generators in most of Australia to keep sending carbon up the chimney than to adopt carbon capture and storage. The study, Projected Costs of Generating Electricity: 2010, compares the long-term cost of new state-of-the-art generators using different power sources in different countries - assuming a price of $US30 a tonne for carbon emissions. In general, the plants are expected to be commissioned by 2015, although carbon capture and storage technologies are assumed to come later.

The study was carried out by the Paris-based IEA and its cousin, the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency, using data supplied by governments - or, in Australia's case, the Energy Supply Association of Australia. It essentially asks the question: which technology will be best for a carbon-constrained age? Not surprisingly, it concludes that there is no one-size-fits-all answer, with the best choice varying from one region to another. But three strong conclusions stand out:

• For the Western world in general, including the success stories of Asia, nuclear power will be the cheapest source of electricity in a world of carbon pricing. This is particularly true for Japan and Korea - Australia's two biggest customers for coal in 2008-09.
• For Australia and the United States, geothermal energy offers the cheapest source of future electricity, at least at the power station gate, but that could be a long way from the transmission lines and the consumers.
• In most countries, including Australia, gas is generally not competitive as a source of base-load power - assuming interest rates remain low. But if financing costs were to double from the assumed discount rate of 5 per cent, the flexibility and low capital cost of gas-fired power would see it replace nuclear as the best choice.
• 'Renewable energy is generally not competitive, other than large hydro projects in the few countries where they are still possible, and biogas and wind in the US. While solar energy costs are expected to fall sharply over the next decade, the study warns that it could be 20 years before solar is a financially attractive option.

For Australian investors, the real head-turning stuff could be the projections of energy costs in Japan and Korea - on 2008-09 data, our two biggest customers for coal. If these figures are right, it's not new coal loaders we'll be needing, but new conveyor belts for the drums of uranium oxide. In Japan, the study estimates, assuming a 5 per cent discount rate, a new nuclear plant would produce electricity at a cost of $US49.71 a MW hour. Power from a new coal plant would cost $US88.08, with gas more expensive still.

In Korea, the gap would be even wider, with nuclear costing $US29.05 a MW hour and coal $US65.80. The study attributes this to Korea's low construction costs and its experience in building nuclear stations. It would be a different story in China, which is assumed not to have carbon pricing. Its massive hydro schemes supply the world's cheapest power, with coal and nuclear more or less equal in cost. No nuclear power options were costed in Australia, since none have been proposed. Without them, Australia stands to lose its cheap energy advantage, as even Japanese nuclear energy would be cheaper than any of our coal options.

There were also surprising conclusions for Victoria, with the study estimating that brown coal with carbon capture and storage would be a cheaper source of power than gas. But if the discount rate for projects is raised towards 10 per cent, gas or dirty brown coal would be the best options in Victoria, and dirty black coal or geothermal in the rest of Australia.

FuelCell Energy Awarded $2.1 Million

money.cnn.com
March 10, 2010

DANBURY, Conn., March 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - - FuelCell Energy, Inc., a leading manufacturer of high efficiency ultra-clean power plants using renewable and other fuels for commercial, industrial, government, and utility customers, today announced subcontract awards totaling $2.1 million from Air Products. The prime contract to demonstrate a renewable hydrogen fueling station was awarded to Air Products by the California Air Resources Board and supported by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The project is to demonstrate an Air Products' concept which incorporates FuelCell Energy's DFC-H2® technology in a hydrogen fueling station. The DFC-H2® can produce clean power, heat and renewable hydrogen.

The hydrogen will supply the state-of-the-art hydrogen fueling station developed and to be installed by Air Products at the Orange County Sanitation District's (OCSD) wastewater treatment facility in Fountain Valley, California. The system will be fueled with biogas from wastewater treatment operations and produce 300 kWs of power and up to 300 pounds of hydrogen per day. This hydrogen could be used for early market fuel-cell applications such as back up power and forklifts and is sufficient to fuel roughly 100 fuel-cell cars. The electricity will be available for use by OCSD for its operations.

"The award of the prime contracts giving rise to the announced subcontracts is a clear acknowledgement by DOE and California of the importance of using a renewable resource such as biogas to generate energy," said Christopher Bentley, FuelCell Energy's Executive Vice President of Government Research & Development Operations. "Our research indicates that hydrogen efficiently produced as a byproduct by the DFC-H2® can be less costly than hydrogen produced by other methods and can enable the expansion of ultra-clean, hydrogen production systems worldwide, while providing the benefits of distributed power generation."

During the past two years under the ongoing DOE program, FuelCell Energy and Air Products have developed a co-production test unit and successfully validated the test unit in 2009 at FuelCell Energy's research and development facility. The test unit produced hydrogen and power meeting the predeployment testing objectives in advance of its siting at OCSD. Details on Air Products' hydrogen fueling station technologies are provided at www.airproducts.com/h2energy.

Geothermal plant to heat airport

www.theengineer.co.uk
27 October 2009

Fraport, the owner and operator of Frankfurt Airport, has teamed up with D & S Geo Innogy and Daldrup &  Söhne to explore the potential of developing a deep geothermal power plant in Walldorf, Germany. Once completed, the power plant would be the first hybrid power station to use a combination of geothermal power and biogas for the production of electricity and heat, which would then be used at the airport.

Although numerous studies will be required before the plant gets the go-ahead, the developers claim they are confident that the system will, at the very least, enable them to supply part of the airport with geothermal energy for its heat requirements. Geologically, the Walldorf field belongs to the Upper Rhine Rift, an area that covers some 100km2. Over the next few months, a series of seismic explorations will be conducted to give the companies an idea of its geothermal potential.

After the preliminary studies, the joint-venture partners are planning to build at least one hybrid power station that will generate electricity and heat from geothermal power and biogas. The biogas is produced by RWE at a biogas plant in Saxony-Anhalt where it is refined to the same quality level as natural gas and will be delivered to the new plant via the gas grid. RWE Innogy set up a joint venture with Daldrup & Söhne in January to develop, plan and construct geothermal power stations. Daldrup & Söhne specialises in planning and conducting geothermal drillings, while D & S Geo Innogy develops existing fields owned by RWE Innogy.

COWS have been getting a bad rap in the debate over climate change.

www.theaustralian.news.com.au
October 26, 2009

Cows burp and emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and quite a lot of it. But it turns out that a well-managed cow could an important friend and ally in the fight to reduce greenhouse emissions. A new theory has the potential to turn the current debate about whether to include or exclude agriculture from emissions trading schemes on its head.

A study by Mark Adams, the dean of agriculture at the Sydney University, looked into greenhouse emissions from bushfires and grazing in the high country. It found that while cows might emit 54kg of methane per head per year, oxidising bacteria in high country soils can oxidise methane at the rate of 8760kg for every hectare each year. In other words, high country grazing is easily methane-neutral and may even offset cow-methane from other parts of the landscape.

Tony Lovell is a co-founder and director of Soil Carbon, an advocate of improved grazing practices - and a reappraisal of the way carbon balance sheets are formulated, particularly regarding terrestrial carbon. He says the new research fits in with other research that found that methane emissions from landfills were significantly less when they were covered by less compacted and moister soils, because they could house more oxidising bacteria.

The significance is that carbon needs to be seen as part of a cycle, rather than a series of sources and sinks. Algae, which can absorb carbon dioxide from power stations and create a new fuel source, operates on a similar cycle, speeding up what happens naturally over several millennia to just a few days.

Lovell says cows are considered a farm liability because they emit methane. But research indicates the possibility of a different view of well-managed ruminants. This demands improved land management practices, which improves soil structure, decreases compaction and boosts moisture-holding capacity

From fast track to slow lane
IT is now almost a year since Kevin Rudd announced he would fast-track the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program so he could turbocharge the investment in the key emerging energy technologies. Last December, he promised $100 million would be spent in 2008-09 and a further $400m within the next 12 months. Apart from a handful of allocations to biofuel projects and $14m in geothermal drilling grants, not a cent has been allocated for the REDP, which is designed to support commercial demonstration facilities in geothermal, wave, biomass and energy storage.

So where is it? It's the burning question for the developers of emerging energy sources. Some have seen their programs - with a combined worth of more than $10 billion - come to a virtual standstill as they and their financiers await this and other funding initiatives. An accumulation of anecdotal evidence suggests the recipients have been decided and an announcement is ready, but now awaits a moment of political convenience.

Start-ups starved of funding
THE impact of confused and delayed government policy on the nascent carbon and renewable energy markets, not to mention mainstream energy contracts, has been quite visible. But in some parts of the unlisted emerging energy and emissions abatement technology sector, no one can hear you scream.

The Eco Investor conference in Sydney last week provided a fascinating snapshot into some of the funding needs of companies seeking to bring new technologies to market. Biodegradable pallet maker Biofiba is seeking $2m for product development and a further $5m for commercialisation, the Bob Hawke - chaired Solarsailor is seeking $5m, liquid solar developer Sunengy is looking for $600,000 for a Hunter Valley pilot plant and a further $5.4m for commercialisation, and fly ash recycler Vecor wants to raise $US5.5m.

But the lingering effects of the GFC have made fundraising a tough assignment. The talk on the sidelines of the conference was of the numerous groups finding their development stalled, and even looking for trade sales, because funding was so hard to obtain. Many had placed their faith in government programs such as the REDP. But because of the delays in this and other programs, potential investors are losing patience and walking away.

Rethink on geothermal risk
Geothermal energy is often characterised as unproven and therefore an over-the-horizon base-load technology - better, in that case, to consider available technologies such as coal, gas and nuclear, it is said. GeoDynamics last week presented a different take on the major economic risks affecting the long-run marginal cost of feeding energy into the national grid, breaking down the risk profiles of various technologies into high, medium and low uncertainty.

The key take-out was that the highest level of uncertainty over resource economics would be removed for geothermal, and possibly carbon prices, within the next two or three years. However, the high level of uncertainty would linger two or three times longer for carbon capture, another decade for public acceptance of nuclear, and ad infinitum for oil and gas prices.

The shorthand summary: by 2020, geothermal energy might not just be cheaper than oil and gas and other competing base-loads such as carbon capture and nuclear, it will also carry significantly less investment risk. And if that's not obvious now, taking into account the 10,000MW of geothermal energy currently produced across the globe, it will be crystal clear within the next two years.

Daring feat for heat exchange
ON the subject of geothermal, the soon-to-be-listed Granite Power is about to unveil the second pilot plant of its new heat exchange technology at the University of Newcastle, its development partner. CEO Stephen de Belle says testing at the first plant suggested a 40-50 per cent improvement in the power output from conventional systems used in the conversion of waste and geothermal heat into energy, for little additional cost. This could have profound implications for the geothermal industry, De Belle says. It could reduce geothermal costs from an average $87 per MW hour to around $60/mwh, and some lower cost geothermal producers would make a significant leap towards grid parity.

This has big implications for low-temperature power generation, de Belle says, and also for solar thermal plants, biogas and some waste heat recovery. The new 100kw plant to be unveiled next month will be succeeded in the next year by several plants testing its performance in the 500kW to 2MW range.

Melbourne Water to harness sewage power

Age
Monday 24/8/2009 Page: 3

Melbourne Water will use the sewage at its Western Treatment Plant in Werribee to generate almost all of the facility's power needs. Two additional power generators, believed to cost about $4 million each, will be installed, meaning the plant will produce 95% of its annual electricity needs by mid next year. The project, a collaboration between AGL and Melbourne Water, will harness the power from biogas, which is captured in lagoons on site. Biogas, which includes methane, is a byproduct of sewage treatment.

Melbourne Water spokesman Paul Pretto said it would increase the renewable energy used at the plant from 52 GW hours a year to 72 GW hours a year. "This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a further 24,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, which is the equivalent of taking about 5600 cars off the road," he said.

It Puts the Western Treatment Plant well on track to achieve its goal of using 100% renewable energy by 2018. It comes as the Government- run organisation completed construction of its sixth mini-hydro plant. The final mini-hydro plant, at the Silvan Reservoir, in conjunction with those at Preston, Notting Hill, Olinda, Mount View and the Upper Yarra Dam, will generate enough energy to power 5000 houses.

Methane: landfill must get big, or get out

Australian
Thursday 6/8/2009 Page: 6

THE management of landfill waste is emerging as one of the most significant environmental challenges in the world today. In Europe, Asia and the US it has reached critical proportions because of the amount of waste produced, the lack of land or the combination of both. In Australia, 20 million people produce an estimated 40 million tonnes of waste, according to Max Spedding, the secretary of the Australian Landfill Owners Association. Half of this is recovered and recycled: some of it through kerbside recycling, some of it from industrial waste, and a lot from construction waste. But 20 million tonnes of waste is still landfill.

The problem is that while about one-third of this waste is inert, much of the rest food and paper generates methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It can continue to produce methane for 50 years. The landfill industry has responded by using the methane as a source of renewable energy which generates income from the price of energy, and from incentive schemes such as the Renewable Energy target and the NSW Greenhouse gas Abatement Scheme. It is estimated that about 14% of the renewable energy certificates produced under Australia's current target come from landfill waste methane.

The issue for landfills is that they need to be of a significant size to make such energy generation profitable. Spedding says the minimum size would be 100,000 tonnes a year, about 100 truckloads a day, or a capacity to generate three MWs of energy. Spedding says about 90% of Australia's 614 landfills don't have the scale to make such energy production economical. "I think there will be a move to close small landfills and make regional-based centres. We are in the transition stage, but that is the future of landfill in Australia." Some, however, say Australia is not doing enough to reduce its landfill waste.

Mike Bartlett, president of international energy company Global NRG, says Australia could be eradicating the need to bury nearly all its municipal waste, but government policy and the vested interests of landfill owners favour the status quo. Global NRG has signed a contract with New York to build a 1 million-tonne plant to handle municipal solid waste. Bartlett expects this plant to be generating enough energy to satisfy 28% of the city's electricity need by 2011.

In Toronto, it has built a plant that removes recyclable waste and transforms the rest into a pellet. The Toronto product is being sold to cement giant Lafarge under a long-term contract, but can also be used as a fuel stock for brick or mining kilns, in boilers to produce steam for industrial use, as a synthetic gas, for further processing into ethanol or biodiesel or in coal-fired generator plants to reduce the level of CO2, emissions.

Bartlett says that under Kyoto Protocol NRG pellets made from municipal solid waste are carbon neutral. He claims the process has reduced Toronto's landfill needs by 96%. A similar plant is also planned in Sri Lanka, where it will receive $US140 per MW for the electricity under a government-mandated scheme. Bartlett says China also mandates high tariffs for such plants, reasoning the reduction in landfill needs amortises the cost.

"If Australia was to harness half of the renewable energy available from municipal solid waste, half of the wheat, straw and half of the cotton and maize stalks, it could generate 3000 MWs, all from renewable sources," he says. "That's equal to the equivalent of five new medium-sized power stations and they could be built at 60% of the cost of a coalfired power station, and produce electricity at half the price of that produced from coal."

Des Wyatt, of Adelaide-based environmental consultancy group Wyatt & Associates, says Australia is about 15 years behind the rest of the world in the development of biogas, which can be produced not just from landfill, but also sewage treatment plants, or waste from intensive farming installations such as piggeries or chicken farms.

He says in Australia energy is mostly produced through a centralised system and exported through expensive transmission lines, which means much of the heat generated by the production of energy is lost, and water is needed to cool the generators. "What I'm arguing for is distributed generation," he says. "That way energy can be produced where needed in buildings, for instance and the heat used for industrial purposes or as a source of indoor heating." He says biogas can also be used as a nontraditional transport fuel, and the residue from the co-fermentation plant used as a soil secondment or fertiliser.