March 2009
Monthly Archive
Solar panels: $1/watt, but still more expensive than oil
Posted by admin on 31 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Solar
First Solar, Inc. announced that the cost to manufacture its thin-film solar panels is now below $1 per watt.
First Solar’s eventual goal is “grid parity,” a phrase that refers to making solar power cost the same as competing conventional power sources without subsidies. Right now the cost of making panels accounts for a little less than half the total cost of installation. The company estimates that it needs to get manufacturing costs down to $0.65 to $0.70 per watt, and other installation costs down to $1 a watt in order to reach grid parity—goals First Solar plans to reach by 2012
Utah school highlights renewable energy
Posted by admin on 30 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Geothermal, Wind
Three Peaks Elementary School in Cedar City, Utah, is powered by geothermal energy and wind power.
Three Peaks is an example of the type of endeavor Rocky Mountain Power again is looking to fund this year: small projects that will generate less than 10 megawatts of energy. Preference goes to community-based efforts that not only create electricity but also lead to broad understanding of the science through research and investment in new-generation projects, officials say.
Caves to act as batteries for wind power
Posted by admin on 29 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Wind
Two British companies are studying ways to use caves to store compressed air generated by wind power. When power is needed, the compressed air is released to power turbines that will generate electricity.
If the technology works, energy planners will be able to rely on power from wind farms when it comes to planning the next day’s output — and the plants that burn fossil fuel can be stood down. Such a development could be critical to Britain, which wants to increase wind power tenfold by 2020 as part of the government’s plan to have 35% of electricity generated from renewable sources.
Habitat for Humanity home awarded LEED platinum
Posted by admin on 28 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: LEED
The next generation of Habitat for Humanity homes is not only affordable, but LEED-certified platinum as well.
Included in the budget are Energy Star windows, exterior doors, appliances and fixtures, while a high efficiency furnace and tankless water heater will all surely help to keep utility bills low. High performance materials are great and definitely help, but the savings really start to add up through this home’s simple design gestures.
US, Philippines rank highest in geothermal
Posted by admin on 27 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Geothermal
The United States leads the world in geothermal energy production, but the Philippines may soon surpass it.
Taylor, speaking at the Geothermal Innovation and Investment conference in San Francisco this week, said the Philippines comes next with almost 2 gigawatts. The Philippines could take over the lead in the next two years, Taylor said. The sizes of the projects in this Asian country tend to be larger — it has 15 projects in operation now compared with 68 in the United States.
Biofuel works even in Alaska’s cold climate
Posted by admin on 26 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Biofuel
Purdue University professor Bernie Tao developed a biodiesel that works even in subzero Alaskan weather.
Alaskans using vegetable oil converted to biodiesel can’t easily use straight biodiesel at temperatures below about 0 degrees Fahrenheit because it clouds up and begins to solidify. Tao developed a patented process of distilling the fuel using urea in which the fuel can remain liquid to minus 60 Fahrenheit. He is also able to recycle the urea for later batches of fuel.
Intercollegiate biodiesel conference announced
Posted by admin on 25 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Biofuel
Students, faculty, and staff from colleges and universities are the target audience for the Dickinson College (Pennsylvania) biodiesel conference, “Fueling the School”, on April 3-4.
The conference will include hands-on biodiesel chemistry workshops as well as advanced production topics, including demonstrations on methanol recovery, glycerin soap production, and glycerin composting research. The keynote speaker at the conference will be Lyle Estill, cofounder of Piedmont Biofuels in Pittsboro, N.C. The conference will include a tour of Keystone Biofuels, a 20 MMgy biodiesel plant in Shiremanstown, Pa.
“Black Phantom” can turn biomass into manmade coal
Posted by admin on 24 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Biomass
New Zealand’s Carbonscape has invented a machine named the “Black Phantom” that can make manmade coal out of biomass.
Carbonscape, a New Zealand-based start-up, describes its invention as an industrial-sized microwave that can cook plant waste, wood waste, and “even sewage” into coal.
Carbonscape also claims that the machine captures and stores more carbon than the amount of carbon generated by the electricity needed to power it for the process.
Electric cars could run on wind power
Posted by admin on 23 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Wind
New Zealand’s Electricity Commission’s Dr. Bruce Smith says that if the majority of the country’s vehicles were electric, they could be powered by 3000 megawatts of wind energy.
But electric cars could make it possible to build many more wind turbines because they solved one of wind power’s major inefficiencies – that energy is wasted overnight and at other times when people use little electricity because the wind is blowing and not being used.
From landfill trash to ethanol
Posted by admin on 22 Mar 2009 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Canada’s Enerkem has developed a process that uses a gasifier to turn landfill trash into ethanol.
Enerkem’s $250 million project will produce 20 million gallons of ethanol each year from household trash and feedstock from agricultural activities. The production facility will take a major step towards cutting down trash piles by diverting 60% of municipal solid waste from Mississippi’s Three Rivers landfill and turning it into ethanol.
