Tag Archives: Renewable Energy

US president aims to add 40GW to 82GW of installed CHP capacity by 2020

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Low gas prices, state incentives, environmental regulations and the retirement of old power plants helps fuel rising investment in combined heat and power (CHP) installations in the US, according to a Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report.

 

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Obama’s CHP initiative

The 40GW CHP expansion goal is based on a 2012 Executive Order from Obama which encourages the Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture, and the EPA […] to coordinate policies in order to encourage investment in industrial efficiency measures such as CHP.

The installation of a further 40MW of capacity would save about 1 quadrillion Btu of energy annually, eliminate over 150 million metric tons of CO2 emissions and save energy users some $10 billion a year.

Shale gas revolution helps spur CHP growth

Currently about 8 percent of US power generation capacity and 12 percent of MWh generated annually comes from CHP, according to the DOE report, while 87 percent of CHP installations support manufacturing plants.

The recent US shale gas revolution has helped spur renewed interest in the sector, after investment in new CHPs slowed down between 2004 and 2005, mainly due to volatile gas prices and an uncertain economic outlook.

See on gastopowerjournal.com

California’s Secret To Green Jobs And A Thriving Clean Economy? It’s Policy.

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Gov. Jerry Brown signs bill requiring California utilities to get a third of their power from renewable sources, the country’s most aggressive clean energy standard (AP Photo)

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Green jobs are growing four times faster than the rate of all other jobs nationwide, with the majority happening in California according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. EDF’s analysis of California’s clean economy finds that jobs in core sectors like energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean transportation, and advanced storage and materials have not only remained resilient during the worst of the Great Recession (2008-2010), they outpaced all other job growth and grew 109 percent from 1995 to 2010.

Green jobs are also good jobs in California. They are diverse, across a wide range of education-level and skills, and almost half of all jobs in the clean economy don’t require a college degree according to the Brookings Institution. On average, green jobs offer a higher median wage and career advancement opportunities. An analysis by Philip Romero, the former Dean of CSU Los Angeles College of Business and Economics finds that “workers command wages with a 50-to-100 percent premium over the average job,” and estimates that the overall clean economy will grow “by at least 60-to-100 percent” by the late 2030’s.

See on thinkprogress.org

Report Claims Renewable Energy Policy Bad For Washington State

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Olympia, Wash. — A conservative Washington state political think tank’s study says our state’s renewable energy policy is bad for the economy and environment.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Currently, Washington is required to draw 15-percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Washington Policy Center Director Todd Myers says the study concludes Washington could lose up to 12,000 jobs in the next seven years, and energy costs for households and businesses could skyrocket.

Myers says the study estimates a reduction in real disposable income by about $1-billion.

He says the state currently draws nearly 80-percent of its energy from hydro-energy sources, which current legislation does not define as renewable.

See on kgmi.com

Energy Storage Series: Why We Need It, And Why We Don’t

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It’s almost a cliché that there’s a “friendly debate” pitting utilities against renewable energy. But concerns on the utility side of the table are real: intermittency, potential destabilization at the feeder level, non-baseload, and peaks in generation that don’t necessarily match demand peaks. Today’s power infrastructure involves unpredictability in both supply and demand that is extremely difficult to manage.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The big question in energy storage, Wheaton says, boils down simply: what does it cost to build more generation (to oversupply), vs. how to store and manage energy? Today it’s more “economically rational” to build more generation, whether it’s solar or wind or even coal, he noted. As energy storage technology costs come down — and as there is better understanding and calculation of externalized costs, such as societal impacts — “we will see those lines cross, and more utilities will go to energy storage as a more economical means to serve the grid.”

Fundamentally, economics determines the decision of over-generation vs. energy storage; right now “either energy storage is not cheaper, or the payback is not enough to shift over,” noted Luebbe. As the cost (dollars per kilowatt-hour) come down and energy storage costs intersect with those in over-generation, “then everyone will do it because it’s economically the logical thing to do.”

See on www.renewableenergyworld.com

ComEd Created 2400 Jobs through Grid Modernization Programs in 2012

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ComEd submitted this week to the Illinois Commerce Commission data showing that the 2011 Smart Grid law created more than 2400 full-time equivalent jobs in Illinois in 2012.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

“The grid modernization programs are putting many linemen, electricians and specialists who work on our electric grid back to work in well-paying, skilled jobs. This helps the Illinois economy and boosts other local industries, too,” said Michael Carrigan, president, Illinois AFL-CIO. “Getting the programs back on track will protect and increase jobs for Illinois workers.”

ComEd’s grid modernization investments have provided an important boost to Illinois manufacturers, suppliers and service providers with the expertise necessary to support the electrical system upgrade. Last year, ComEd awarded grid modernization contracts worth a total of $118 million, including 71 percent to Illinois companies providing services and products from engineering to cable to smart switches. Of the total, $54 million, or 46 percent, was spent with diverse suppliers.

See on tdworld.com

Small Hydro Power for micro hydro power generation in streams & rivers. HydroWorld

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Read the hot small hydro power project news & technology.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Hydroelectric plants with a capacity of 20 MW or less are a valuable niche of the hydro industry, providing local power in underdeveloped countries and sources of new capacity in established markets.

See on www.hydroworld.com

Law Firms Plays Key Role In Green Deal

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The UK Top 100 firm [Ward Hadaway] has advised renewable energy company JFS & Associates on the latest in its series of joint ventures with farmers to install and build anaerobic digestion (AD) plants to generate green energy.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The plant being built at Howla Hay Farm will be capable of generating 250kWh of electricity enough to power 250 homes.

Matthew Flint, director at JFS & Associates, which is based in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, said: “It is great news to be able to announce the second in what we aim to be a whole series of these developments which provide a win-win for both parties in the joint venture.

“The farmer gets to share in the proceeds of the electricity generated opening up a new revenue stream as well as getting the benefit of the by-products of the process, such as heat and bio-fertiliser to further improve the profitability of their existing business.

“We get a readily available source of feedstock for the AD plants and, by using our expertise and experience in the renewable energy sector, we can generate and sell electricity to feed back into the National Grid.”

See on www.power-eng.com

SolarReserve Completes Molten Salt Receiver Panel Assembly on Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant Tower

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SolarReserve, a U.S. developer of large-scale solar power projects, today announced completion of the assembly of the molten salt receiver panels that sits on top of the 540 foot solar power tower for its 110 megawatt (MW) Crescent Dunes Solar…

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The project will utilize technology […] to capture and store the sun’s energy in order to deliver a firm electricity supply to Nevada, day or night, without the need to burn fossil fuels. The molten salt “receiver” is actually comprised of panels formed by hundreds of special alloy tubes which will be flowing with molten salt for energy absorption and storage. Once complete, the project will be capable of storing 10 hours of full load electricity production, enough to power 75,000 homes at peak electric demand periods, even after dark.

The project closed financing and initiated construction in September of 2011 and is scheduled to complete construction and start plant commissioning at the end of 2013, including first electricity production by the end of the year. The Crescent Dunes project has secured a 25-year power purchase agreement with NV Energy to sell 100 percent of the electricity output of the facility to serve homes across Nevada.  […]

“The energy storage capability of this technology solves the problem of intermittency typical of other renewable energy sources. Additionally, because of it high efficiency, this technology can generate almost twice as much energy as a comparably sized solar facility, including facilities powered by photovoltaic panels or by a direct steam tower.” said Kevin Smith, CEO of SolarReserve.

See on www.azocleantech.com

What Will Be the Next Technological Breakthrough in Energy?

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What technological breakthrough is most likely in the next 10 years that could completely change the energy equation as we now see it?

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Jeffrey Ball: Information Technologies to Increase Efficiency, and Solar Power Seem Promising

Predicting new-energy technological breakthroughs tends to be a fool’s errand. A decade ago, few envisioned the breakthrough that has most rocked the U.S. energy world: the one-two punch of fracking and horizontal drilling that has unlocked huge stores of shale gas from California to New York.

Right now, two broad areas of new energy technology seem particularly promising: information technologies that could spur major energy-efficiency improvements; and cheaper and more-reliable solar power. […]

Study after study has pegged energy efficiency as the lowest-cost way to curb fossil-fuel consumption and the resulting greenhouse-gas emissions. The problem has been figuring out how to unlock those efficiency improvements in the real world. Today, creative minds are at work developing electronic systems to track and display the energy use of institutional and individual consumers in ways that could make those users much more conscious both about how much energy they consume and about precisely what they could do to cost-effectively consume less. More information, in short, could equal less power.

See on online.wsj.com

Town looks at way to dispose of its sludge

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GREENFIELD — The town is looking at how it might dispose of its own sludge in the future to save

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Town officials believe an anaerobic digester and combined heat and power facility would eliminate the costs associated with shipping the wet solids, as well as the cost to heat and provide electricity to the transfer station.

This is not just a matter of saving money, though,” said Collins. “It is also a social justice issue. A lot of these plants, like the ones we transport to, are closing down. We really need to be dealing with our own sludge, not sending it off into other communities.”

[…]  anaerobic digestion is a natural process where sludge (plant and animal waste) is broken down by micro organisms, which release the methane, or biogas, that can be used to generate heat and electricity.

“This helps cut fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,”[…] “The remaining material is rich in nutrients and can be used as fertilizer.”

See on www.recorder.com