Tag Archives: Sustainability

Waste fat will power UK’s biggest sewage works | Energy Live News

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Waste fat and oil from restaurants and clogged up drains underground (pictured) will soon power the UK’s largest sewage works. A new power station at Beckton in East London opening …

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Thames Water says it has agreed to buy 75 GWh of this output to run its Beckton sewage works, which serves roughly 3.5 million people, as well as a nearby desalination plant […]

The water firm has committed to provide the power station with 30 tonnes a day of fat, oil and grease (FOG) enough to fill a six metre-long shipping container. That’s at least half of the fuel the generator needs to run.

Developed and run by ‘green’ utility 2OC, it’s set to produce 130 Gigawatt hours (GWh) a year of renewable electricity – enough to run 39,000 average-sized homes.

See on www.energylivenews.com

Report: Global waste industry could double to $2tn by 2020

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysis predicts boom in global waste industry as resource crunch bites

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

“We are seeing a shift away from waste as a mandatory public service to waste management as a sustainable business opportunity,” the report states. “We see the fastest growth in the next decade coming from diversion, recycling, recovery of valuable secondary raw materials, waste-to-energy, e-waste and sustainable packaging – as well as from emerging markets. We see considerable low hanging fruit potential given that 70 per cent plus of global waste is currently landfilled. ‘Greening’ waste management will require increasing MSW recycling by a factor of 3.5 times and doubling industrial waste recycling.”

See on www.businessgreen.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

Power Analytics: The model based approach to availability, energy and resource management

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As the reliance on the data center infrastructure continues to grow, organizations will need to use model-based analytics to help make better IT decisions.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Download this white paper to see how the use of model-based metrics is directly analogous to business analytics. With the complexity of today’s modern systems – without these metrics – management and financial decisions would be nearly impossible. As the reliance on the data center infrastructure continues to grow, organizations will need to use model-based analytics to help make better IT decisions. By utilizing model-based management, organizations will be able to see the powerful link to the overall value chain of designing, building and operating a data center.

See on www.datacenterknowledge.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

International Hydropower Association announces IHA World Congress – HydroWorld

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Members of the hydroelectric power community will convene in May for the International Hydropower Association’s World Congress for discussions concerning hydropower development around the world.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

This Congress — titled “Advancing Sustainable Hydropower” — runs May 21-24, 2013, in Sarawak, Malaysia, and includes four days of interactive sessions and discussions designed not only to be informative, IHA said, but to test current strategies and stimulate future thinking.

See on www.hydroworld.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

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