The Energy Blog (100 unread)

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• Pickens Mesa Power Orders 1,000 MW of Wind Turbines

  Per press release, edited slightly: Mesa Power LLP, a company created by T. Boone Pickens, has placed an order with General Electric to purchase 667, 1.5 megawatt wind turbines for the worlds largest wind farm, capable of generating 1,000 megawatts, nameplate, of electricity, enough to power more than 300,000 average [...]

  Posted: May 16, 2008, 7:48pm EDT by James Fraser

• Worlds Largest, $1.8 Billion, 500 MW, Wind Farm to be Built off the Coast of UK

  Per Fluor Corporation press release: Fluor Corporation, Dallas, TX, (NYSE: FLR) announced Wednesday that it has signed a contract with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) to design and construct the 500 megawatt (MW) Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm. The venture is the world's largest offshore wind farm project to move [...]

  Posted: May 15, 2008, 1:31am EDT by James Fraser

• DuPont To Enter Thin Film Amorphous Silicon Market

  Per DuPont press release: DuPont (NYSE: DD) announced that it will soon begin construction on a research center in Hong Kong and a manufacturing facility in Shenzhen to support the rapidly growing photovoltaic (PV) solar energy industry. . . . DuPont expects growth in the photovoltaic market to exceed 30 [...]

  Posted: May 13, 2008, 7:40pm EDT by James Fraser

• Sungri Claims 5-7 cents per kWh for CSP Solar Technology

  Using SUNRGI's propriety technology it is possible to produce large amounts of electricity from solar radiation at a wholesale price of US $0.05 / kWh is the lead headline on SUNGRI's website. The system is called Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics ™ or XCPV™. XCPV efficiently concentrates sunlight so than it is [...]

  Posted: May 03, 2008, 2:18am EDT by James Fraser

• GM Invests in Mascoma

  General Motors Corp. and Mascoma Corp. today announced a strategic relationship to develop cellulosic ethanol focused on Mascoma's single-step biochemical conversion of non-grain biomass into low-carbon alternative fuels to help address increasing energy demand. Mascoma's single-step cellulose-to-ethanol method, called Consolidated Bioprocessing, or CBP, lowers costs by limiting additives and enzymes [...]

  Posted: May 02, 2008, 2:02am EDT by James Fraser

• Land for Largest Field of Swithgrass for Bioenergy Acquired

  Oklahoma has secured 1,100 acres of land for the world's largest stand of switchgrass devoted to cellulosic ethanol production. Planting will take place within the next 45 days. Switchgrass is a perennial grass that is naturally drought resistant and grows on marginal lands.The Oklahoma Bioenergy Center (OBC), demonstration fields will [...]

  Posted: May 02, 2008, 12:46am EDT by James Fraser

• Missouri City Goes 100% Wind Power

  Following the opening of a new 5 MW four-turbine wind farm last week, Rock Port, a town of 1,395 in North West Missouri, has become the first U.S. town to get all its electricity from wind power. The $90 million Loess Hills Wind Farm, was built by St. Louis-based Wind [...]

  Posted: April 28, 2008, 1:41am EDT by James Fraser

• Optisolar to Build Largest Solar Farm in North America

  OptiSolar, Hayward, California, is developing a 550 megawatt photovoltaic (PV) solar farm, the largest in North America, covering over 6,000 acres, in San Luis Obispo County, California. OptiSolar intends to submit an application to San Luis Obispo County for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in May. Construction is targeted to [...]

  Posted: April 27, 2008, 11:51pm EDT by James Fraser

• EPRI Analysis Finds Utility Based Energy Efficiency Programs Could Cut Energy Consumption 7-11 %

  Energy efficiency improvements in the U.S. electric power sector could reduce electric consumption by 7 to 11 percent more than currently projected over the next two decades if key barriers can be addressed, according to a preliminary analysis of potential energy savings released recently by the Electric Power Research Institute [...]

  Posted: April 26, 2008, 3:37am EDT by James Fraser

• eSolar Receives Funding for 33MW Modular Solar Power Plants

  From a 4/21 press release: eSolar™, a producer of modular solar thermal power plants, announced (pdf) that is has closed $130 million in funding from Idealab, Google.org, Oak Investment Partners, and other investors for the construction and deployment of pre-fabricated power plants. Their distributed solar thermal plants achieve economies of [...]

  Posted: April 26, 2008, 12:43am EDT by James Fraser

• Order your Tesla Roadster Now, TH!NK City Coming to North America in 2009

  On Earth Day it is appropriate to feature one of the most sustainable products of the future, the electric car. High gas prices and growing environmental consciousness could finally usher in a new era for electric cars. The Tesla Roadster and the TH!NK City, represent the two extremes in electric [...]

  Posted: April 22, 2008, 2:49am EDT by James Fraser

• Study Develops More Accurate CO2 Data

  Purdue University press release: - A new, high- resolution interactive map of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has found that the emissions aren't all where we thought. "For example, we've been attributing too many emissions to the northeastern United States, and it's looking like the southeastern U.S. is [...]

  Posted: April 19, 2008, 11:51pm EDT by James Fraser

• Largest Laser Beam in the World to Create Fusion

  This video is about the National Ignition Facility, more details in previous post, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, employing the largest bank of laser beams in the world, to be used in an experiment designed to create fusion ignition, a potential clean energy source for the 21st century. The $3.5 [...]

  Posted: April 19, 2008, 1:27am EDT by James Fraser

• Pickens Wind Farm to Get Underway

  Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens is commencing action, with plans for his company, Mesa Power, to build, over the next four years, the previously announced $10 billion wind farm, the world's largest, that will eventually generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity - the equivalent of building two commercial scale nuclear [...]

  Posted: April 18, 2008, 3:35am EDT by James Fraser

• Trina Solar Cancels $1 Billion Polysilicon Plant

  China-based Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) announced that it has canceled plans to build a $1 billion polysilicon plant that was revealed in December of 2007, with a target completion date by the end of 2012. Favorable changes in the polysilicon market has led Trina to believe that it can now [...]

  Posted: April 17, 2008, 1:51am EDT by James Fraser

• Climate Change Confirmed but Global Warming is Cancelled

  I ran across an article, in The National Business Review (NZ), that (attempts to) explain why the climate is not highly sensitive to CO2 warming. In December last year . . . (the author) heard . . . a paper . . . that showed while the IPCC models predict [...]

  Posted: April 09, 2008, 1:31am EDT by James Fraser

• The Beginning of the End for Coal

  A post on Earth Policy Institute describes the difficulty power companies are having in getting coal fired power plants approved. There first paragraph sums up the difficulty they are having: With concerns about climate change mounting, the era of coal-fired electricity generation in the United States may be coming to [...]

  Posted: April 08, 2008, 3:17am EDT by James Fraser

• FYI: Nanomaterial Turns Radiation Directly into Electricity

  According to an article in New Scientist, materials that directly convert radiation into electricity could produce a new era of spacecraft and even Earth-based vehicles powered by high-powered nuclear batteries, say US researchers. . . . The materials they are testing would extract up to 20 times more power from [...]

  Posted: April 07, 2008, 1:08am EDT by James Fraser

• Volt Status Update

  GM released some more information on the status of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid last week in meeting with journalists and analysts at its battery research labs and design studio near Detroit. No real news to those of you who are following the Volt closely. A Reuters article summarized the [...]

  Posted: April 07, 2008, 12:56am EDT by James Fraser

• Largest Tidal Stream System Installed

  Marine Current Turbines, has successfully completed the first installation phase of the 1.2MW SeaGen Tidal System, previous post, the world’s largest grid-connected tidal stream system, into the fast-flowing waters of Strangford Narrows off the coast of Northern Ireland. A crane barge safely positioned the 1000 ton structure onto the seabed [...]

  Posted: April 06, 2008, 4:05am EDT by James Fraser

• Skeptics Speak Out on Global Warming

  Aqua satellite data suggests there are reasons why we should be skeptical to the extent to which carbon dioxide drives warming, that CO2-driven increases in water vapor actually cool the earth, not magnify warming, and with equal interest the latest data from Argos float buoy data in the ocean could [...]

  Posted: April 04, 2008, 11:58pm EDT by James Fraser

• DesignLine Orders 150 Capstone Turbines for HEV Buses

  Capstone Turbine Corporation (NASDAQ: CPST), announced that it has received a 150 unit order for C30 Capstone MicroTurbines(R) to be deployed in ECOSaver IV hybrid electric buses manufactured by DesignLine International. This is the largest order to date for Capstone products in a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) application. Hybrid electric [...]

  Posted: April 04, 2008, 2:39am EDT by James Fraser

• FYI: TransAlta and Alstom Develping CCS Facility in Alberta

  TransAlta Corporation (NYSE: TAC) and Alstom (EPA: ALO) signed an agreement to work together to develop a large scale CO2 capture and storage (CCS) facility in Alberta, Canada. The project will pilot Alstom’s proprietary Chilled Ammonia Process. TransAlta considers the Chilled Ammonia Process as one of the more promising and [...]

  Posted: April 04, 2008, 12:50am EDT by James Fraser

• Waste Hydrogen Used to Power Vehicles and Car Wash

  CBCnews (Canada) has an interesting story about how the Integrated Waste Hydrogen Utilization Project (IWHUP) uses hydrogen from two chemical plants to power pickup trucks, shuttle buses and a car wash. The chemical plants produce more than 1000 kg/hr of hydrogen resulting form the production of sodium chlorate and clor-alkali [...]

  Posted: April 02, 2008, 11:41pm EDT by James Fraser

• MIT Spin-off Developing Solar Cells That are 27% More Efficient, No more Expensive to Make

  1366 Technologies claims that its small multicrystalline solar cells are 27% more efficient than conventional cells while keeping costs about the same. It also announced its first round of funding of $12.4 million from Venture capitalists co-led by North Bridge Venture Partners and Polaris Venture Partners. The company's efficiency and [...]

  Posted: April 01, 2008, 10:32pm EDT by James Fraser

• Project A Better Place Expands to Denmark

  Project Better Place (PBC), California, has signed a letter of intent with Danish energy company DONG Energy aimed at reducing CO2 emissions from the Danish car fleet by providing electric cars, batteries and the infrastructure required for implementing a sustainable transportation energy solution. Together with PBC, DONG Energy will work [...]

  Posted: March 31, 2008, 11:38pm EDT by James Fraser

• More News on EEStor

  The latest about EEStor, the promising developer of ultracapacitors can be found in a post by Tyler in Clean Break, EEStor Powered cityZenn targeted for fall 2009 the key item is taken from Zenn Motor Company's press release following its annual general meeting of March 28: The cityZENN is planned [...]

  Posted: March 30, 2008, 10:44pm EDT by James Fraser

• Virent: Biomass to "Biogasoline"

  Shell and Virent Energy Systems, Inc., (Virent™) have announced a joint research and development effort to convert plant sugars directly into gasoline and gasoline blend components, via the BioForming™ process, rather than producing ethanol. The process is a simple reactor system operating at relatively low temperatures and pressures and once [...]

  Posted: March 28, 2008, 11:59am EDT by James Fraser

• FYI: Petrosun to Start Commercial Operation of 4.4 MGY Algae Oil Plant

  PetroSun, Inc (PINK: PSUD) announced that their Rio Hondo, Texas algae farm will commence operations on April 1, 2008 as PetroSun's initial commercial algae-to-biofuels facility. The current algae farm consists of 1,100 acres of saltwater ponds that the company projects will produce a minimum of 4.4 million gallons of algal [...]

  Posted: March 25, 2008, 12:36am EDT by James Fraser

• 9MWe CHP Jatropha Bio-oil Plant Being Developed in Belgium

  Thenergo, a Belgian developer and operator of decentralized sustainable energy projects using biomass, biogas, bio-oil and cogeneration has announced that it has commenced development of a 9MWe, 6MWth CHP bio-oil to energy plant in Merksplas (Belgium). The project, named Greenpower, representing a total investment of €11 million will run on [...]

  Posted: March 25, 2008, 12:03am EDT by James Fraser

• FYI: Double Digit Oil Price is History

  The Economic Times has an article "Double-digit oil price is history: R S Sharma" that gives a perspective on where we stand on oil supply and consumption and some comments on what we need to do: Oilonomics has gone haywire. The rise in oil prices has now started to hurt. [...]

  Posted: March 24, 2008, 11:48pm EDT by James Fraser

• Duke Researchers Develop Ceramic Membrane that Permits Fuel Cells to Operate at Low Humidity and Higher Temperatures

  Researchers at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering have developed a membrane that allows fuel cells to operate at low humidity and theoretically at higher temperatures. “The current gold standard membrane is a polymer that needs to be in a humid environment in order to function efficiently. If the polymer membrane [...]

  Posted: March 24, 2008, 12:31am EDT by James Fraser

• Most GM Vehicles will be Hybrids by 2020

  Via the Detroit News: General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz said on May 19 that GM would have produce 80 percent of its vehicles as some type of hybrid by 2020 in order to meet new tougher fuel economy standards. "Ultimately by 2020, we figure that 80 percent of vehicles [...]

  Posted: March 24, 2008, 12:02am EDT by James Fraser

• Why Exxon Won't Produce More

  From Business Week online March 20, 2008: . . . If you want to understand why Exxon won't produce more, it helps to listen in to ExxonMobil's presentation to analysts in New York City in early March. Halfway through the three-hour meeting, Exxon management flashed a chart that showed the [...]

  Posted: March 23, 2008, 10:49pm EDT by James Fraser

• An Update on Uranium Reprocessing

  A March 22 article "Recycling uranium and plutonium: where's it heading?" on the Nuclear Engineering International website explores the status of uranium recycling and its future. Programs for the recycling of plutonium were developed in the 1970s when it appeared that uranium would be in scarce supply and would become [...]

  Posted: March 23, 2008, 9:56pm EDT by James Fraser

• FYI: GE Demonstrates World's First ''Roll-to-Roll'' Manufactured Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs

  Press release - GE Global Research and GE Consumer & Industrial in conjunction with ECD announced the successful demonstration of the world’s first roll-to-roll manufactured organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting devices. This demonstration is a key step toward making OLEDs and other high performance organic electronics products at dramatically lower [...]

  Posted: March 18, 2008, 10:21pm EDT by James Fraser

• New Enzyme Promises to Reduce Ethanol Costs

  University of Maryland research that started with bacteria from the Chesapeake Bay has led to the development of a bacterium, called Saccharophagus degradans which can break down almost any source of biomass, or plant life, into sugars, which can then be converted into ethanol and other biofuels. That process, developed [...]

  Posted: March 14, 2008, 12:10am EDT by James Fraser

• Basin Electric Selects Powerspan's ECO2 Carbon Capture Process for Commercial Demonstration Project

  Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Powerspan Corp. today announced the selection of Powerspan's carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technology, called "ECO2(TM)," for a commercial demonstration at Basin Electric's Antelope Valley Station, a coal-based electrical generation facility located near Beulah, North Dakota. Approximately one million tons of CO2 will be captured annually [...]

  Posted: March 13, 2008, 9:45pm EDT by James Fraser

• GM, Toyota Dismiss Fuel Cells for Mass Use

  The Wall Street Journal reported this week that executives from General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., at the Geneva Auto Show Tuesday, "expressed doubts about the viability of hydrogen fuel cells for mass-market production in the near term and suggested their companies are now betting that electric cars will [...]

  Posted: March 07, 2008, 12:05am EST by James Fraser

• Five Passenger TH!NK Ox Introduced at Geneva Auto Show

  Norwegian car maker TH!NK unveiled a new model, a five seater, the TH!NK Ox, at the Geneva Auto Show. The production model is said to closely resemble the concept car. The base model Ox, scheduled for production in 2011, will have a range of about 125 miles (200 kilometers) on [...]

  Posted: March 06, 2008, 2:10am EST by James Fraser

• GM will use Lithium-ion Batteries with its "Mild" Hybrid Drivetrains

  The Wall Street Journal reports that GM will announce an upgrade of its "mild" powertrain, the "Belt Alternator Starter," (BAS) drivetrain that is used on hybrids such as the Saturn Aura and Chevrolet Malibu at the Geneva Motor Show. The new system, "BAS-plus," will use lithium-ion batteries supplied by Japan's [...]

  Posted: March 05, 2008, 3:56am EST by James Fraser

• Chilled Ammonia Carbon Capture Process to be Demonstrated

  A pilot plant that uses chilled ammonia to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fueled power plants was launched by Alstom, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and We Energies, at We Energies’ Pleasant Prairie Power Plant in Wisconsin. Alstom designed, constructed and will operate the 1.7 MW system that captures [...]

  Posted: March 05, 2008, 1:55am EST by James Fraser

• Nuclear Power: A Change for the Better

  Former Florida governor Jeb Bush shared his opinions on nuclear power in the Ocala, Fl Star Banner: "Change" seems to be the operative word this election season. It's on the lips of political contenders and on the minds of the voters. But politics isn't the only arena where change is [...]

  Posted: March 04, 2008, 4:41am EST by James Fraser

• Sodium Sulfur Batteries to be Used for Energy Storage at MN Windfarm

  Xcel Energy, (NYSE: XEL)in partnership with the University of Minnesota, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Great Plains Institute, will soon begin testing a one-megawatt sodium-sulfur battery storage system to demonstrate its ability to store wind energy and dispatch it to the electricity grid when needed. Fully charged, the [...]

  Posted: March 02, 2008, 10:26pm EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Smith Electric Vehicles Orders Drive Components for 4,000 Vehicles

  Enova Systems, Torrance, CA, has announced that it has received a production order and has begun delivering 90kW and 120kW electric drive components for in excess of 1,000 units during 2008, and as many as 3,000 in 2009 to Smith Electric Vehicles, in Vigo Centre, UK, a division of The [...]

  Posted: February 28, 2008, 1:12am EST by James Fraser

• DOE announces $33.8 Million in Enzyme Research for Cellulosic Ethanol

  Inexpensive cellulosic ethanol is essential for the development of liquid fuel products from non-food materials. Several companies are already involved in building pilot plants or small commercial plants to produce cellulosic ethanol. (see cellulosic ethanol category for more information) One of the major cost constraints on the process is the [...]

  Posted: February 28, 2008, 12:24am EST by James Fraser

• End in Site for Silicon Shortage in Solar industry

  Severe shortages of silicon have plagued the solar photovoltaic market over the past few years. According to a Frost & Sullivan press release a turnaround can be expected this year with polysilicon catching up with the demand . Quoting from the press release: It was estimated that the demand for [...]

  Posted: February 27, 2008, 12:06am EST by James Fraser

• EU Research Shows that Hydrogen Energy Could Reduce Oil Consumption in Road Transport by 40% by 2050

  The EU HyWays project has released its main report "European Hydrogen Energy Roadmap" The "Roadmap" analyzes the potential impacts on the EU economy, society and environment of the large-scale introduction of hydrogen in the short- and long- term (up to 2050). A few excerpts from the press release announcing the [...]

  Posted: February 26, 2008, 11:59pm EST by James Fraser

• Yergin: Climate Change and Energy are Converging into New Era of Clean Energy

  The sometimes outspoken Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) and executive vice president, IHS Inc., spoke at the 2008 National Governors Association (NGA) Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 23. Some of his remarks may be of interest to readers of TEB. “High energy prices, climate [...]

  Posted: February 26, 2008, 1:38am EST by James Fraser

• Bank of America to Assess Cost of Carbon on Loans to Utility Companies

  The banking industry is taking an increasing interest in green energy and carbon emissions, in lieu of the Federal government not taking any action. Because of this failing, the Bank of America has decided to start assessing the cost of carbon in their risk and underwriting processes for loans to [...]

  Posted: February 24, 2008, 11:44pm EST by James Fraser

• Emissions from Photovoltaic Life Cycles

  A new report has found that thin-film cadmium telluride solar cells have the lowest life-cycle emissions primarily because they consume the least amount of energy during the module production of the four types of major commercial PV systems: multicrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon, ribbon...
  
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  Posted: February 23, 2008, 12:46am EST by James Fraser

• DOE Enhanced Geothermal Systems Projects

  In a move that I greet with great enthusiasem DOE has embarked on a project with a number of partners to test Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technologies at a commercial geothermal power facility near Reno, Nevada. EGS technology enhances the permeability of underground strata, typically by...
  
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  Posted: February 22, 2008, 3:36am EST by James Fraser

• AE Biofuels Builds Integrated Cellulose Ethanol Commercial Demonstration Plant

  Another company is entering the Cellulosic ethanol market place with the announcement that AE Biofuels, Cupertino, CA, has begun construction of an integrated cellulose and starch ethanol commercial demonstration facility in Butte, Montana. The plant will use proven patent-pending Ambient...
  
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  Posted: February 22, 2008, 1:13am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Abengoa to Build 280MW Concentrating Solar Power Plant in Arizona

  Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) announced plans that Abengoa Solar will build the Solana Generating Station, a 280-megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power (CSP) plant, 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, near Gila Bend, Ariz. Solana will employ technology that can both produce and store energy during...
  
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  Posted: February 22, 2008, 12:27am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Zenn Still Planning on EEStor

  ZENN (TSX: ZNN) the Canadian manufacturer of low speed electric car vehicles has a statement in its first quarter 2008 report that they anticipated EEStor technology being commercialized and is making plans to incorporate it into its products. In addition ZENN is invstigating longer-range highway...
  
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  Posted: February 21, 2008, 11:47pm EST by James Fraser

• Syntec Cellulosic Ethanol Sets Price Record

  Syntec Biofuel Inc (OTCBB: 'SYBF'), a company developing biomass to fuel conversion technologies, announced that it has achieved a yield of 105 gallons of alcohol (ethanol, methanol, n-butanol and n-propanol) per ton of biomass. This marks a major milestone for Syntec as this yield is equivalent to...
  
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  Posted: February 19, 2008, 2:10am EST by James Fraser

• Historic Data Suggest Geosequestration of CO2 Safe

  Alpha Galileo reports that a new study has revealed that storing carbon dioxide beneath the earth may be a safer and longer term method of reducing emissions in the atmosphere than previously thought. Researchers at the University of Manchester found that carbon dioxide (CO2) has been naturally...
  
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  Posted: February 19, 2008, 1:21am EST by James Fraser

• The Case for Investing in Energy Productivity

  McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) reports that an additional annual investment in energy productivity of $170 billion through 2020 could cut global energy demand growth by at least half—the equivalent of 64 million barrels of oil a day or almost one and a half times today’s entire U.S. energy...
  
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  Posted: February 18, 2008, 11:59pm EST by James Fraser

• Volt Price Tag to Escalate Initially

  GM has confirmed reports that the first Chevy Volts will cost $35,000 not the $30,000 that they had claimed previously. Canada.com first published the report, that includes the following statements: GM has found it can't re-engineer features such as windshield wipers and high-powered audio systems...
  
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  Posted: February 16, 2008, 11:52pm EST by James Fraser

• New Materials Can Isolate and Capture CO2 More Efficiently with Five Times More Density than Current State of the Art

  UCLA scientists have demonstrated that they can successfully isolate and capture carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, rising sea levels and the increased acidity of oceans. Their findings could lead to power plants efficiently capturing carbon dioxide without using toxic materials....
  
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  Posted: February 15, 2008, 10:29pm EST by James Fraser

• Sandia, Stirling Energy Systems Set New World Record of 31.25% for Solar-to-Grid Conversion Efficiency

  On a perfect New Mexico winter day — with the sky almost 10 percent brighter than usual — Sandia National Laboratories and Stirling Energy Systems (SES) set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record by achieving a 31.25 percent net efficiency rate. The old 1984 record of 29.4 percent...
  
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  Posted: February 15, 2008, 12:50am EST by James Fraser

• Georgia Tech: CCS from Vehicles with Carbon Recyle = Zero Emission Car

  Georgia Tech abridged press release: The Georgia Tech team’s goal is to create a sustainable transportation system that uses a liquid fuel and traps the carbon emission in the vehicle for later processing at a fueling station. The carbon would then be shuttled back to a processing plant where it...
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  Posted: February 14, 2008, 11:58pm EST by James Fraser

• Mitsubishi Unviels New "I MiEV"

  Mitsubishi Motors Corp has unveiled the newest version of the electric vehicle, "i MiEV," with a longer cruising range than the previous model and a new Li-ion battery . Mitsubishi aims to launch mass-production of electric vehicles in 2009. And, in this field test, the company plans to investigate...
  
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  Posted: February 12, 2008, 3:07am EST by James Fraser

• ZeaChem Announces Poplar Tree Feed Stock Agreement for High Yield, High Efficiency Bio-Refinery

  ZeaChem, Inc. and GreenWood Resources, Inc. (GWR), on behalf of GreenWood Tree Farm Fund, LP ("GTFF") announced Monday the signing of a non-binding Letter of Intent to supply poplar tree (aka Pacific Albus) feed stock under a long-term agreement to support the operation of an initial 1.5 million...
  
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  Posted: February 12, 2008, 2:17am EST by James Fraser

• Plans Announced for a Wave Power Plant in Hawaii

  Oceanlinx, an Australian wave energy company, announced plans for a $20 million project to install three floating wave energy converters (WECs), i.e. wave-powered turbine platforms, to supply up to 2.7MW of electricity to the island of Maui, Hawaii. The company has signed a Memorandum of...
  
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  Posted: February 10, 2008, 1:45am EST by James Fraser

• EPRI, INL Announce Plan Focused on Near-Term Increase in Nuclear Energy Production

  The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) today announced the public release of a joint INL/Nuclear Power Industry Strategic Plan for Light Water Reactor (LWR) Research and Development. More evidence that the nuclear energy...
  
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  Posted: February 08, 2008, 12:06am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Industry's First Phase Change Memory Prototypes

  Intel Corporation and STMicroelectronics reached a key industry milestone today as they began shipping prototype samples of a future product using a new, innovative memory technology called Phase Change Memory (PCM). The prototypes are the first functional silicon to be delivered to customers for...
  
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  Posted: February 07, 2008, 6:56pm EST by James Fraser

• FYI: National Geographic Special on Global Warming

  I thought this series might be of interest to some of my readers. Can anyone stop global warming? Part of National Geographic’s mission is to inspire everyone to at least try, with a bevy of new content designed to educate, inspire and even alarm. National Geographic’s “Six Degrees Could Change [...]

  Posted: February 07, 2008, 6:38pm EST by James Fraser

• Cheap Cars Mean Higher Gas Prices

  The introduction of cheap cars in China and India may accelerate the increase of price of gasoline in the rest of the world. That is the essence of a CNNMoney article that points to projection that India will be have annual sales of 3 million light vehicles and China roughly [...]

  Posted: February 06, 2008, 3:05am EST by James Fraser

• MIT & TI Team Develop Chip up to 10 Times More Energy-Efficient than Current Chips

  From MIT News comes what seems to be one of a long string of disruptive technologies in the semi-conductor industry. The potential impact of these chips is unimaginable at this time. Can you imaginge a pacemaker or other implantable medical device that requires no batteries? Researchers at MIT and...
  
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  Posted: February 05, 2008, 11:19pm EST by James Fraser

• Oil Shortages Start in 2010; Peak Oil Hits 2012-2015

  EnergyTechStocks.com had a very interesting post on peak oil based on an interview with Charles T. Maxwell. Maxwell spent 40 years on Wall Street, plus 12 years before that working for a major oil company, a lifetime of experience. Now a senior energy analyst at Weeden & Co., Maxwell is [...]

  Posted: February 05, 2008, 4:26am EST by James Fraser

• Bio-crude Turns Cheap Waste into Valuable Fuel

  CSIRO and Monash University announced that they have developed a chemical process that turns green waste into a stable bio-crude oil. Bio-crude works in much the same way as crude oil, making it economical to produce bio-crude in local areas for transport to a central biorefinery for further...
  
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  Posted: February 05, 2008, 1:23am EST by James Fraser

• Leading Wall Street Banks Establish The Carbon Principles

  Guidelines to strengthen environmental and economic risk management in the financing and construction of electricity generation. Three of the world's leading financial institutions announced the formation of The Carbon Principles, climate change guidelines for advisors and lenders to power...
  
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  Posted: February 05, 2008, 12:27am EST by James Fraser

• DOE Selects 4 Small-Scale Biorefinery Projects for Up to $114 Million in Funding

  DOE announced on January 29 that it will invest $114 million in four ten-percent of commercial-scale scale biorefinery projects over four years, to be located in Colorado, Missouri, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Expected to be operational in four years, the selected projects will use a wide range of...
  
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  Posted: February 04, 2008, 12:43am EST by James Fraser

• Plans for Coal-to-Liquids Facility Announced

  Fuel Frontiers, Inc. (FFI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nuclear Solutions, Inc. (OTC:NSOL), announced that it is working with Shaw Stone & Webster (Shaw) to launch an engineering program that will provide a technical basis for a 400 Tonne per day Coal-To-Liquid (CTL) Ultra-Clean Diesel fuel...
  
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  Posted: February 02, 2008, 1:25am EST by James Fraser

• Latest on the Volt

  Jan 31 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp plans a strong production run for its plug-in Chevy Volt, according to a senior executive on Thursday who also urged Congress to approve tax incentives to help spark demand. . . . "As volume (of batteries) scales up, you will move down this [...]

  Posted: February 01, 2008, 11:10pm EST by James Fraser

• FutureGen Scrapped, CCS to be Demonstrated on Multiple Clean Coal Power Plants

  From a DOE announcement: DOE announced a restructured approach to its FutureGen project that aims to demonstrate cutting-edge carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at multiple commercial-scale Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) clean coal power plants. Under this strategy, the U.S....
  
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  Posted: January 31, 2008, 12:08am EST by James Fraser

• Do We Need Yucca Mountain?

  The referenced post, by the World Nuclear Association, presents one view on the need for Yucca Mountain and nuclear fuel recycling as stated by NEG. Would Yucca Mountain, the nation’s planned repository 90 miles outside Las Vegas, be expected to store the nuclear waste? Not necessarily, came the...
  
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  Posted: January 31, 2008, 12:05am EST by James Fraser

• Hydrogen form "E. Coli"

  A professor in Texas A&M University's chemical engineering department envisions "E. coli" as a future source of energy, helping to power our cars, homes and more. By genetically modifying the bacteria, Thomas Wood, a professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, has "tweaked"...
  
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  Posted: January 30, 2008, 11:14pm EST by James Fraser

• Big Business Says Addressing Climate Change 'Rates Very Low on Agenda'

  Poll of 500 major firms reveals that only one in 10 regard global warming as a priority The Independent -- Global warming ranks far down the concerns of the world's biggest companies, despite world leaders' hopes that they will pioneer solutions to the impending climate crisis, a startling survey...
  
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  Posted: January 30, 2008, 12:01am EST by James Fraser

• Seadog Wave Pump Exceeds Epectations

  Independent Natural Resources Inc's. ( INRITM) SEADOGTM wave pump is a form of wave power that has been around for a while that I hadn't heard of. It seems to me to have several advantages over other forms of wave power, being simpler than most, consuming no external power and [...]

  Posted: January 29, 2008, 3:10am EST by James Fraser

• GM-Volt.com Reaches Major Milestone: Waitlist for Chevy Volt Climbs to 10,000

  GM-Volt.com claims to be the definitive source of real-time news, information, and discussion about the General Motors Chevrolet Volt plug-in vehicle and related topics. A key component of the site is the Chevy Volt waiting list. People who are interested in purchasing the car are signing up. Even...
  
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  Posted: January 27, 2008, 2:41am EST by James Fraser

• Ice Loss in Antartica Nearly Matches That of Greenland

  Via Biopact -- Ice loss in Antarctica increased by 75 percent in the last 10 years due to a speed-up in the flow of its glaciers and is now nearly as great as that observed in Greenland, according to a new, comprehensive study by UC Irvine and NASA scientists. . [...]

  Posted: January 27, 2008, 12:05am EST by James Fraser

• Shell CEO Presents Two Scenarios For the Future of Energy

  The chief executive of Shell has posted this article on Shell's new energy scenarios. I was made aware of it by The Oil Drum, who first posted it at http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3548 and I thought it was worth repeating for your comments. They had a large number, 153, of mostly very insightful...
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  Posted: January 26, 2008, 3:27am EST by James Fraser

• Wal-Mart in Discussion on Possibility of Selling HEVs and PHEVs

  (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott said he held talks with automakers on the possibility of selling gasoline-electric hybrid cars and plug-in automobiles at the retailer's stores. " Maybe there isn't room for Wal-Mart in this right now, but something tells me...
  
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  Posted: January 26, 2008, 1:24am EST by James Fraser

• Johnson Controls, Partner to Open Lithium-ion Battery Factory in France

  Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE:JCI) and its French joint venture partner, Saft, soon will open their first factory to build lithium-ion batteries for a plug-in version of a Mercedes-Benz sedan. The company also is making batteries for Dodge Sprinters that are being tested in Los Angeles and New York....
  
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  Posted: January 26, 2008, 12:56am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Alberta to Cut Projected Emissions by 50 per cent Under New Climate Change Plan

  Alberta will cut projected greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050 as part of a long-term climate change plan that focuses on carbon capture and storage, consumer incentives and greener energy production. Research indicates new and next generation technologies will deliver the majority of the new...
  
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  Posted: January 26, 2008, 12:24am EST by James Fraser

• GM Forms New Organization for Hybrids, Plug-ins and Advanced Batteries

  General Motors has formed a new engineering organization especially dedicated to implementing hybrid and extended- range electric vehicles (E-REV) and advanced battery technology. The global team will be led by Robert Kruse, executive director of vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicle...
  
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  Posted: January 25, 2008, 11:58pm EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Renault Nissan Considers Using A123Systems Batteries in Addition to Their Own

  The Wall Street Jounal reports that Renault and its partner Nissan Motor Co., which this week announced a major commitment to develop battery-powered cars, are considering using lithium-ion batteries both from their in-house team and the American battery start-up A123 Systems. "In some markets we...
  
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  Posted: January 24, 2008, 7:50am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Zap and China Youngman Automotive Issue RFP for Two Passenger Electric Vehicle

  Officials from ZAP (OTCBB: ZAAP) and China Youngman Automotive Group announced their Joint Venture Company has initiated the RFQ (Request For Quotation) process for a vehicle project called the ZAP Alias™. The Joint Venture Company targets the Alias to retail at a price of $30,000 in a...
  
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  Posted: January 24, 2008, 7:15am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: New Path to Produce Butanol

  A team of researchers headed by an environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new techniques to produce butanol, a biofuel superior to ethanol. It can be derived from lignocellulosic materials, which are plant biomass parts that range from woody stems and straw to...
  
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  Posted: January 24, 2008, 7:08am EST by James Fraser

• Raytheon Sells RF/CF Technology for Extracting Oil From Shale to Schlumberger

  Raytheon has sold its technology to extract oil from shale and tar sands to Schlumberger, a leading oilfield services company. In order to create new momentum for extracting oil from shale, Raytheon utilized one of its many intellectual property reserves (radio frequency, or RF, technology)....
  
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  Posted: January 24, 2008, 12:08am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Record High Capacity Methane Storage Material Found

  Science Now reports the development of a new type of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), called PCN-14, that has a high surface area of over 2000 m2/g. Laboratory studies show that the compound, composed of clusters of nano-sized cages, has a methane storage capacity 28 percent higher than the DOE...
  
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  Posted: January 23, 2008, 10:52pm EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Huckabay Ridge Now Producing Renewable Natural Gas from Manure at Full Capacity

  Biopact reports that Environmental Power Corporation (Nasdaq: EPG), announced that its Huckabay Ridge facility in Stephenville, Texas, has achieved full-capacity production levels of pipeline-quality renewable natural gas (RNG(R)) and has now moved into full-scale commercial operation. The facility...
  
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  Posted: January 23, 2008, 10:22pm EST by James Fraser

• Renault-Nissan and Project Better Place to Supply Israel with Recharging Grid and Electric Vehicles

  Renault-Nissan Alliance and Project Better Place aim to create a breakthrough with electric vehicles in Israel. This comes in response to the Israeli State's challenge to migrate the country's transportation infrastructure to renewable sources of energy. The Israeli government would provide tax...
  
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  Posted: January 22, 2008, 11:58pm EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Safeway Converts Fleet to BioDiesel

  Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY), one of the nation’s leading retailers embracing environmentally friendly initiatives throughout its business operations, announced today that it has converted its entire California and U.S. truck fleet to cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel. The biodiesel initiative makes...
  
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  Posted: January 21, 2008, 12:20am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: Marcellus Black Shale Natural Gas Reservoir Could Dramatically Boost U.S. Production

  Natural gas distributed throughout the Marcellus black shale in northern Appalachia could conservatively boost proven U.S. reserves by trillions of cubic feet if gas production companies employ horizontal drilling techniques, according to a Penn State and State University of New York, Fredonia,...
  
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  Posted: January 21, 2008, 12:10am EST by James Fraser

• FYI: UltraBattery Sets New Standard for HEVs

  The odometer of a low emission hybrid electric test vehicle reached 100,000 miles as the car circled a track in the UK using the power of an advanced CSIRO battery system. The UltraBattery combines a supercapacitor and a lead acid battery in a single unit, creating a hybrid car battery [...]

  Posted: January 21, 2008, 12:02am EST by James Fraser

• Acconia Windpower Opens U.S. Production Facility

  Acconia Windpower, a Spanish producer of wind turbines, announced that it has opened a $23 million wind turbine generator production plant in West Branch Iowa. The 200,190 sq. ft. facility was constructed in seven months. The plant is scheduled to produce 200 wind turbines in 2008, with plans to...
  
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  Posted: January 20, 2008, 9:53pm EST by James Fraser

• Raser Technologies, Merrill Lynch Agree to a 155 MW Geothermal Financing Program

  Raser Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: RZ) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Merrill Lynch for the structuring and financing of up to 155 megawatts (MW) of Raser’s geothermal power plants, including a commitment letter from Merrill Lynch to provide funding for the construction of...
  
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  Posted: January 19, 2008, 1:16am EST by James Fraser