Hydro
Archived Posts from this Category
France to install hydro turbines in the Seine
Posted by admin2 on 03 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Hydro
Hydroelectric turbines will be installed under bridges over the Seine River in Paris.
A majority of the machinery used to harness the currents will be underwater with the exception of some modern hydro-mill prototypes that will be placed above water. According to Paris authorities, the addition of the turbines is intended to raise awareness of renewable energy more so than power the city. So far, Paris has already begun installing mini-windmills on buildings and also heating the buildings with water from underground springs.
Germany uses 10% renewables in 2009
Posted by admin2 on 26 Mar 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel, Biomass, Geothermal, Hydro, Solar, Wind
Germany is well on its way to its 18% renewable energy goal in 2020. The country used renewable sources for 10% of its energy needs in 2009.
Energy produced by sources including biomass, geo-thermal, hydro-electric, solar and wind accounted for 10.1 percent of the total consumed by Europe’s biggest economy, up from 9.3 percent in 2008.
Biomass sources were the single biggest supplier.
EU to meet 2020 renewable energy standards
Posted by admin2 on 13 Mar 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel, Biomass, Conservation, Geothermal, Hydro, Ocean Energy, Osmotic, Solar, Wind
The member nations of the European Union expect to achieve 20.3% renewable energy consumption by 2020, exceeding the 20% target.
In a summary of national forecasts, the Commission says the EU will reach an overall share of 20.3% from renewable sources. 10 of the 27 member states are likely to exceed their targets for renewable energy, with another 12 countries to meet their goals domestically.
Europe to build renewable super-grid
Posted by admin2 on 09 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Hydro, Ocean Energy, Solar, Wind
Nine European countries plan to build a renewable energy high-voltage grid under the North Sea by 2020.
The grid would connect British and German offshore wind farms with hydro electricity sources in Norway, wave power generators near the Belgium and Danish coastlines, and large wind energy producers and solar farms on the European continent.
California may have up to 70 GW of renewable energy
Posted by admin on 05 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Biomass, Geothermal, Hydro, Solar, Wind
244 proposed renewable energy projects in California could produce up to 70 gigawatts of energy.
The 244 proposed projects in the state include solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydro technologies. In order to be built, renewable energy projects must win regulatory approval.
VMware’s data center powered by hydro
Posted by admin on 09 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Hydro, LEED
VMware, the virtualization technology provider, announced that its new data center in East Wenatchee, Washington, uses 100% hydroelectric power. The data center has also applied for a Platinum LEED certification.
The new data center in East Wenatchee, Wash., is powered solely by hydroelectric energy. It maximizes use of air-side economization or free cooling, which the company says is available in the area nearly all year long. WMware expects airside economizers will eventually allow the facility to reduce its usage of air conditioning by 50-75 percent.
Air-handling equipment at the facility is further optimized by incorporation of hot- and cold-aisle containment in its design. VMware projects that reducing its power use by ensuring shorter air-compressor runtimes will result in savings of about $500,000 per year.
Sweden’s 56-year old hydro plant still going strong
Posted by admin on 03 Jul 2009 | Tagged as: Hydro
Hydroelectricity supplies Sweden with almost half of its electricity needs. The country’s oldest hydro plant, the 56-year old Harspranget, generates 475 megawatts of power.
Open the floodgates to the five turbines on the 1.4-kilometer-long dam, and a total of 1,000 cubic meters of water per second falls 107 meters into the turbine blades, causing the enormous axles to rotate at speeds upward of 107 revolutions per minute. These axles power generators, which in turn make electricity.
The biggest turbine/generator aggregate at Harsprånget, “Gerhard” (they all have names), can handle almost 500 cubic meters of water per second, making it the biggest and most powerful turbine/generator in Sweden. It was commissioned in 1980.The turbine has a diameter of almost 17 meters, and the rotating weight of the axle and rotors combined is more than 1,000 tonnes. The generator’s power output of 475 MW is equal to that of the Ringhals nuclear power station, which is also owned by Vattenfall.
Hydro makes up 35-40% of Michigan’s renewable energy
Posted by admin on 27 Apr 2009 | Tagged as: Hydro
Hydro power makes us 7% of the United States’ renewable energy production, but it produces 35-40% of Michigan’s.
Consumers Energy reports that there are 100 hydroelectric dam projects in Michigan, with a total capacity of 400 megawatts or 3.5 million megawatt hours each year. Consumers owns and operates 13 of these dams which have a total capacity of 132 megawatts or 1.2 million megawatt hours each year.
L.A., Pittsburgh test micro-hydro
Posted by admin on 15 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Hydro
Rentricity had developed a micro-hydrokinetic system that utilizes pressure used to purify and move water.
To get water to a particular elevation, for instance, a water agency might have to pressurize water to 67 pounds per square inch, said Zammataro. Once the water gets to the desired location, a large percentage of that pressure likely dissipates. Rentricity essentially wants to capture that pressure to create electricity before it disappears.
In the L.A. trial, for instance, Rentricity’s system will sit in a transfer station between two reservoirs. In the Pittsburgh trial, the equipment will be at a mandated release point, i.e., a stream. Municipal agencies have to release some water in their reservoirs into streams to keep the environments that depend on the water flows alive. The equipment – technically called a reverse pump – will just extract some of the pressure. Right now, much of this pressure is bled off through a device called a pressure reduction valve.
Renewables could provide 40% of world’s power needs by 2050
Posted by admin on 13 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Biofuel, Biomass, Geothermal, Hydro, OTEC, Ocean Energy, Solar, Wind
An International Scientific Congress study suggests that renewable energy could generate 40% of the world’s energy needs by the middle of the century.
“Our findings demonstrate that with global political support and financial investment, previous notions that the potential for renewables was in some way limited to a negligible fraction of world demand were wrong,” said Lund. “If we prioritize and recognize the value of renewable energy technologies, their potential to supply us with the energy we need is tremendous.”
