Tag Archives: Renewable Energy

Fluorescent Dye Boosts Solar Cell Efficiency by a Whopping 38 Percent

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Squaraine dye helps to improve light absorption, recycle electron and enhance the light to energy conversion in solar cells, increasing efficiency by a whopping 38 percent.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>The Yale researchers relied on Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), a well-known biochemical mechanism, to achieve this radical new energy conversion rate.

“In this type of solar cell—FRET-based heterojunction polymer solar cells—extra energy is able to migrate from one molecule to another over long distances. The dye, which is highly absorbent in the near-infrared region, both broadens the spectral absorption of solar cells and enhances electricity transmission,” Physorg explains.<

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Wind Power Urged to Compete with Fossil Fuels Head-on: Scientific American

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The industry must fight the perception that wind energy cannot compete with fossil fuels

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>Borrowing a page from environmentalists

To that end, some wind power advocates argued that the industry should borrow a page from the environmental movement by challenging renewable energy naysayers head on and ratcheting up its rhetoric on wind energy’s environmental benefits relative to fossil fuels rather than seeking to peacefully coexist alongside the oil, coal and gas sectors.

Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation and one of several high-profile environmental leaders addressing the Chicago conference, told AWEA members that they represent “an insurgent industry” that is “taking on an incumbent industry that plays hardball.”

“I would urge you all to become more aggressive,” he added, “because if you don’t be more creative, more aggressive, more willing to take risks, this industry will move along at a pace that will not solve our problems.”

See on www.scientificamerican.com

Xcel Energy NCAR expand partnership on renewable energy forecasting – Pennenergy

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In the next two years, NCAR scientists and engineers will develop custom forecasting systems to enable Xcel Energy control centers in Minneapolis, Denver, Golden, Colo., and Amarillo, Tex., to anticipate sudden changes in wind, shut down turbines ahead of potentially damaging icing events and even predict the amount of energy generated by private solar panels.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>To help utilities anticipate wind energy more reliably, NCAR began designing a wind energy prediction system for Xcel Energy in 2009 that saved the utility’s customers more than $6 million in 2010 alone. The specialized system relies on a suite of tools, including highly detailed observations of atmospheric conditions, an ensemble of powerful computer models, and artificial intelligence techniques to issue high-resolution forecasts for wind farm sites.

NCAR’s new agreement with Xcel Energy focuses on the following areas:

Forecasting major changes in wind energy over a few hours due to a passing front or another atmospheric event.Forecasting ice and extreme temperatures to predict the impacts of freezing rain on wind turbines, which cannot operate when coated in ice.Generating solar forecasts using a combination of computer models and specialized cloud observing tools to help Xcel Energy better anticipate when customers are getting power from their own panels.<

See on www.pennenergy.com

Canada loses WTO appeal in renewable energy case

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Canada lost an appeal at the World Trade Organization on Monday in a ruling on incentives offered to local companies, a case that has already led to legal challenges over suspicions…

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>Ontario will have to bring its rules into line with the WTO rules or risk a claim for trade sanctions against Canada.<

>Canada’s defeat may spur more WTO disputes by countries which are desperate for economic growth and suspect their firms are being illegally locked out of infrastructure projects abroad.<

See on www.reuters.com

New Wyoming lithium deposit could meet all U.S. demand

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The U.S. currently imports more than 80% of the lithium it uses, with the silvery metal winding up in batteries from cell phones to electric cars.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

“University of Wyoming researchers found the lithium while studying the idea of storing carbon dioxide under ground in the Rock Springs Uplift, a geologic formation in southwest Wyoming. University of Wyoming Carbon Management Institute director Ron Surdam stated that the lithium was found in underground brine. Surdam estimated the located deposit at roughly 228,000 tons in a 25-square-mile area. Extrapolating the data, Surdam said as the uplift covered roughly 2,000 square miles, there could be up to 18 million tons of lithium there, worth up to roughly $500 billion at current market prices.”

See on www.mining.com

Norway: A recycling-happy nation in dire need of trash

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Sweden isn’t the only nation in the throes of a serious trash deficit. As it turns out, Norway is also desperately seeking rubbish to burn in its cogeneration plants. Perhaps the U.S. could lend a helping hand?

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Excerpts…

Norway’s garbage woes aren’t an anomaly in Scandinavia and across Northern Europe where the demand for trash to fuel garbage-burning incinerator plants is high but the supply is devastatingly low due in part to residents’ pertinacious recycling habits. In fact, Northern European countries only produce 150 million tons of trash annually, while the overall capacity of incinerating plants is 700 million tons and growing.

[…] While the burning of garbage is not an environmentally flawless method of producing energy, modern day cogeneration plants are relatively high-tech affairs and the pollution generated is far less than coal. This method also renders landfills nearly irrelevant.

See on www.mnn.com

#Wind Energy Innovation: GE Tests High #Efficiency Turbine in the #Netherlands | The #Energy Collective

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General Electric recently announced it had started testing the prototype of what it calls the world’s most efficient high-output wind turbine. The new 2.5-120 is being tested in Wieringermeer, Netherlands.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Combining efficiency and power output at low-wind-speed sites, the 2.5-120 captures a 25 percent increase in efficiency and a 15 percent increase in power output compared to GE’s current model. GE says wind farm operators at low-winds-speed sites can benefit from its efficiency and output, thanks to its advanced controls and 120-meter rotor which enable increased energy capture and greater power output in low-wind areas. The taller tower, which has a maximum hub height of 139 meters, makes it ideal for heavily forested regions in places like Europe and Canada.

See on theenergycollective.com

Vestas Receives Its Largest Order Ever in Chile

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Project consists of 22 V100-1.8 MW and 35 V100-2.0 MW wind turbines, which will be installed in Coquimbo region.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The order has been placed by Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), a Colombian multi-utility focusing on power generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, wastewater treatment and telecommunications. The company’s power segment has an installed base of 3,250MW, equal to 23.5% of the national installed capacity.

The Los Cururos wind power plant will have an estimated annual production of more than 290,000MWh, […] it will provide enough electricity to cover the residential electricity consumption of more than 550,500 people in Chile.

See on www.onlinetes.com

Wind energy is clearly B.C.’s clean choice

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British Columbians have consistently called for an energy system that is independent, low-impact and as affordable as possible.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

For many decades, the province has benefited significantly from the abundant and affordable supply of hydroelectricity provided through dams built by BC Hydro between the 1920s and the 1980s. Demand now significantly exceeds these aging sources of supply. […]

Wind energy is the ideal complement to B.C.’s existing hydro-dependent electricity system. B.C.’s wind energy resources produce more electricity in winter, when demand for power is at its highest and there is less water available to generate hydroelectricity. Better yet, we have the potential to integrate 6,000 MW of wind-generated electricity at minimal cost within BC Hydro’s existing and planned hydroelectric facilities, so wind-generated power is available when it’s needed. In fact, combining new wind energy resources with B.C.’s heritage hydroelectric resources will create a stronger hybrid electricity system better suited to the needs of the province than the system in place today.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Wind+energy+clearly+clean+choice/8308417/story.html#ixzz2RsG9qP16

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Sierra Club, utilities spar over Nebraska wind power

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The Sierra Club in Nebraska criticized the state’s public power utilities for failing to get more wind power online to compete with Iowa, which landed a planned data center for Facebook Inc. in Altoona and increased incentives for Google Inc. that allow it to expand in Council Bluffs.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

A Facebook spokesman confirmed in email to Midwest Energy News that access to wind power was a factor in its decision to locate in Iowa.

But John Boyd Jr., a New Jersey consultant who helps companies site data centers, told Midwest Energy News the demand for wind power was driven by marketing. “There’s public relations value above and beyond the economic value of wind energy,” Boyd said.

He acknowledged he doesn’t think wind power is the leading criteria for siting decisions. More important factors, he said, are tax incentives, real estate costs and the price of the electricity.  Altoona will provide a 20-year property tax exemption to Facebook, but the jobs must pay at least $23.12 per hour.

Data centers typically are extremely large buildings that house computer servers designed to store massive amounts of data. They typically create few jobs.

See on siouxcityjournal.com