ENERGY!


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. . But that should be plural --energies-- here we report news-clips of all the (good & bad) sources of the energy we use.
. . Skip down to "NEWS".
DATA
About 6 to 7% of the electricity generated in the United States gets lost along the way to consumers, partly due to the resistance of transmission lines.
Strong katabatic winds, caused by the flow of cold air off the high antarctic plateau, make some coastal sites the windiest places in the world. Port Martin (67°S 141°E) is an especially windy site with an annual mean wind speed of 17 m/s (meters/sec) --61 kph --nearly gale force. The station has recorded a monthly mean wind speed of 100 kph --storm force 10) and a daily mean of 46 m/s --165 kph. On average, it has only 22 days a year with mean wind speeds less than 13 m/s --46 kph.
. . Winds at the South Pole are mostly controlled by the slope of the snow surface and are a relatively uniform 6 m/s --22 kph-- from a direction of longitude 22° East. There are few calms or gales.
. . Wind speeds can reach up to 320 km/hr, especially in the coastal regions. These winds are katabatic winds --gravity fed, the result of supercooled, dense air rolling down unimpeded ice slopes.

. . Imagine the tremendous power! Power-extraction goes way, way, way up with increasing speed, & with colder air. Blades would be much shorter & thus stronger (as would be necessary!). Turbines could be placed very much closer together than elsewhere, half of them on short towers. Efficiency would be very high. Finding strong rock anchorages is easy. No lightning problems! No cooling problems!
. . (I can easily see a multiple-"crawler" design for the tops of glaciers. Across a valley & a kilo upgrade, huge linked-together (spiked?) tracks that carry a hundred short towers of a couple megawatts each, "running-in-place" with the movement of the ice. (Think of a snail on a very very slow exercize treadmill.) Sensors control the thrust to maximum. Where possible, rock-anchored cables help pull. But... cheaper places first.)

. . I've done no calculations, but a ring of turbines around the (rock) continent might power the world's needs by itself! The sensitive interior can remain off-limits.

. . How to transmit the power? Several ways --maybe ALL of the below.

  1. An underwater cable to Argentina/Chile (845 km, Shetland Islands to Tierra del Fuego) --even to South Africa (2750 km) & Tasmania/Australia (2700 km).
  2. A microwave beam to Chile (or even, as proposed for elsewhere, a tight beam to orbit & back to anywhere).
  3. Electrolysis of water to hydrogen, shipped compressed in ships, like LPGas.
  4. Perhaps, someday: shipped in super-conducting coils, like a battery.
  5. Use the power right there (If it can be ecological!), e.g. A: smelting aluminum. B: Recasting of scrap metals. C: winter light & heat for (at least) self-sufficiency crops.
VCRs & DVD player use 93% of their total power while inactive --supposedly off!! Cordless fones & answering machines: 98%! 6% of all residential power is used by devices that are turned off! Check out the gov't's Standby Power Home Page:
http://www.standby.lbl.gov./data/1wproducts.html
. . Digital cable boxes, DBS systems, and digital video recorders fall into the high-power category at 8 Watts. Standby power use can be as high as 15 or 20 watts. It could take a whole power-plant to generate the power wasted by all that (& to remove the heat from air-conditioned spaces). In '99, they consumed 71 terawatt-hours of electricity! (71 million megawatt-hours)
The U.S. has more than 5,300 megawatts of wind generating capacity. In '01, we spent $1.7 B, which yielded: 4,200 MW. The cost/KwHr has fallen 80% since thelate 70s. A tower foundation covers just 15 Sq Meters. Enron bought Zond, & GE bought it after the fall of Enron.
With 80,000 megawatts of generating capacity, hydropower is the nation's largest renewable electricity source.
Geologic formations already drilled within onshore state-owned lands in the Prudhoe Bay region contain at least 35 trillion feet of natural gas, equivalent to about one-fifth of all U.S proved reserves (or slightly less than two years worth of nationwide consumption at current levels).
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled to 261 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, reducing the volume of the gas 600-fold. Specially designed tankers with large, insulated storage compartments can carry more than 2.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas per shipment. In 2001, the United States imported about 1% of its total gas consumption (238.1 Bcf) in the form of LNG.
The United States consumed 22.49 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas in 2003.
Domestic production of natural gas, both onshore and offshore, provided 85% of domestic demand. Domestic natural gas proved reserves in 2000 were estimated at 177.4 Tcf, with 71% of proved reserves concentrated in Texas, Gulf of Mexico Federal Offshore, New Mexico, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Colorado.
. . A pipeline system to transport that natural gas from northern Alaska is estimated to cost up to $20 billion, & would require at least 4-6 years to construct.
There are 180 million passenger vehicles in the U.S.
Japan depends on nuclear power for a third of its energy needs.
The present-day electrical grid is currently more than 50% coal-fired. Levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are higher today than they have been for more than 400,000 years.
The Department of Energy says the United States spends over 500 billion dollars annually on energy.
. . http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/info_glance/importexport.html
FORECAST: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/fore_keywords.html#petgas
Contrary to widespread impressions, U.S. natural gas use hasn't been soaring; it peaked in 2000 and dropped by almost 5% in 2003 (and we actually used less nationwide in 2003 than we did back in 1973). NEWS of '04:
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Dec 17, 04: Richard Smalley, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry in 1996, believes that the global energy situation "may be a greater challenge for us than the Cold War" and that the consequences of ignoring the problem will be terrorism, pestilence, famine.
. . Earth's 6 billion people now consume about 14.5 terawatt/hours of energy a day --the equivalent of about 150 million barrels of oil. By 2050, the world's population will rise to 10 billion, and energy demand will rise to between 30 terawatts and 60 terawatt/hrs/day (450 million to 900 million barrels of oil a day), according to United Nations data. Unfortunately, oil production will likely peak by 2020 and start declining. Without a change, developing countries will ultimately be left in the dark, and developed countries will struggle to keep the lights on. Conflict is inevitable.
Dec 16, 04: A quarter of the people in the world still drink filthy water and live miles from electrical power; nearly half the world lacks sewage treatment. Environmental engineer Bruce Logan and his team at Penn State are working to remedy all three problems at once. They have created a fuel cell that uses wastewater to generate electricity, and spits out pure water in the process.
. . The essential ingredients are bacteria that feast on sewage. Such bacteria, commonly used in commercial wastewater treatment, can act as little power plants. When bacteria break down a compound, just like when you and I eat, they oxidize the compound and derive energy from it, Logan says. The oxidation process liberates electrons, which he harvests in the fuel cell to produce a small electric current. Logan's teacup-size prototype can generate enough electricity to run a small fan. Within a year or two, Logan predicts, the Penn State team will have an expanded fuel cell about the size of a filing cabinet that can process 4 liters of water a minute and power a standard household refrigerator.
. . Although there are many other ways to produce electricity and clean water in undeveloped areas, Logan notes that sanitizing wastewater usually consumes power; in this case, it generates power instead, potentially making the bacterial fuel cell a more economical option. This has huge implications globally, he says, because there are a billion people who lack adequate sanitation.
Dec 15, 04: Turkey leftovers will take on a whole new use after a Minnesota company finishes construction of a power plant fired by the birds' droppings. The plant will burn 90% turkey dung and create clean power for 55,000 homes.
. . Three poultry litter plants have already been built in England, but the Benson, Minnesota-based facility will be the first large-scale plant of its type in the U.S. and the largest in the world. The 55-megawatt plant will burn 700,000 tons of dung a year and produce fertilizer as a by-product, a process that will keep phosphorus and nitrates found in the raw litter from seeping into water supplies. No extra amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide would be emitted than would be naturally emitted as the dung decomposes.
Dec 14, 04: Opponents in a long-running debate over when the world will run out of oil squared off today in a crowded room of scientists, reaching only one conclusion: The supply of fossil fuels is fixed and the world economy will eventually have to wean itself from oil. The most dire and perhaps speculative forecast calls for global oil production to peak next year --specifically on Thanksgiving.
. . Others say the end can't be accurately predicted, but that it is likely decades rather then centuries away, and that the consequences will be grave: huge inflation, global resource wars --China vs. the United States was emphasized as a possibility-- and the end of civilization as we know it. Other experts at the face-off, held here during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, said there is nothing to worry about in the short term.
. . The argument stretches back to a 1956 prediction by M. King Hubbert that oil production in the lower 48 U.S. states would peak in the early 1970s. He was right. The United States now imports nearly 60% of the oil it uses.
. . Kenneth Deffeyes, a Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, has taken Hubbert's logic a step further and predicts the world's oil production will top out late in 2005. "It's Thanksgiving plus or minus three weeks", said Deffeyes, who grew up in the oil fields and was a researcher at Shell Oil for several years.
. . "Fusion and shale oil are the energy sources of the future, and they always will be", ~Caltech physicist David Goodstein.
. . China's consumption is expected to grow 7.5% per year, and India’s 5.5%, according to the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.
. . By 2060, oil production will have to triple just to meet global population growth and maintain current standards of living, said Stanford University geophysicist Amos Nur. "What matters in the short term is, when do we panic?" Nur said. "In my opinion, the point of panic has already taken place." It's a behind-the-scenes sort of panic. The two largest economies on Earth --China and the United States-- have already incorporated the finite nature of oil into their national security policies, Nur argues, citing policy statements from both governments reflecting the need to secure stability in oil-producing countries and a free flow of the resource. The war in Iraq, a country second only to politically unstable Saudi Arabia in oil reserves, is another clue, he said.
. . None of the roughly 500 scientists in the room voiced disagreement with Nur's view of the potential for war. If the world is sliding toward global conflict over oil, the skids may be pretty well greased, politically speaking.
. . Governments do not have the political will to prepare for the end of oil, says Goodstein, the Caltech physicist. "Civilization as we know it will come to an end sometime this century, when the fuel runs out", Goodstein said, adding that "I certainly hope my prediction is wrong."
Dec 15, 04: California could have 1 million buildings producing solar energy by 2018, with half of all new homes powered by the sun, administration officials said as they outlined ways to meet one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's more ambitious campaign promises.
. . The goal is to create a self-sustaining solar industry in 10 years, making the zero-pollution power source so commonplace and cheap that costly incentives are no longer necessary, Joe Desmond, Schwarzenegger's deputy secretary for energy, said. Until then, environmental officials are considering funding methods that could include a charge on electricity bills to pay the estimated $700 million to $1 billion cost. That would return a projected $3 billion to $5 billion.
. . The goal is to generate 3,000 megawatts of power from the sun within 13 years, the equivalent of a dozen medium-sized power plants. One megawatt is enough to power about 750 homes. To get there, solar manufacturers who move to California might be offered an investment credit, while homeowners' income and property tax credits, set to expire in 2006, might be extended. They also want to let owners of solar-powered buildings sell more of their electricity back to power utilities.
. . The administration officials propose to require builders to offer solar power as an option in subdivisions of 50 homes or more by 2010. And they want the California Energy Commission to consider requiring solar energy in the same way the commission has in the past mandated low-flush toilets, insulation standards, energy efficient appliances or low-energy lighting fixtures in bathrooms.
. . California already is the world's third-largest market for solar technology, but advocates say such a statewide incentive plan would put the state on a par with leaders like Japan and Germany.
Nov 24, 04: Ordinary windows are dumb: They let in the sun's warming infrared rays whether it is sweltering or freezing outside. So researchers at University College London have developed "intelligent glass", which selectively reflects the infrared on hot days. Skyscrapers that incorporate this smart material could save millions of dollars a year in air-conditioning costs, while cars with smart-glass windows could remain relatively cool even in blinding sun.
. . The secret is a superthin coating of vanadium dioxide molecules doped with tungsten. At low temperatures, vanadium dioxide is transparent to infrared. At higher temperatures, the bonding between the molecules changes and the material becomes reflective, like a metal. A dose of tungsten determines where the switch occurs; a 2% mix makes it happen roughly at a comfortable room temperature. They're talking to commercial glassmakers about applying the coating process to industrial-scale manufacturing. Another hurdle is the coating's yellow-brown tone, unappealing to builders because it looks dirty; adding other ingredients could neutralize the color. Within five years intelligent-glass windows could be on the market, costing perhaps 20% more than the ordinary kind.
Dec 6, 04: WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. officials and scientists are testing technology they hope will turn organic waste into profitable byproducts. A metal tank called a Drygester is designed to break down organic waste anaerobically —-without oxygen. The plant would biodegrade up to 30 tons of municipal solid waste per day that previously would have been buried in the landfill. Byproducts would include methane gas, usable for fuel, and a type of fertilizer.
. . The process is similar to what occurs naturally in the landfill as organic material decomposes deep within the mounds of garbage. However, the natural process requires 20 to 30 years; a Drygester-type system should take about 20 to 30 days.
Nov 29, 04: Hypothetically, a solar-dish farm covering 11 square miles could produce as much electricity per year as the Hoover Dam. Their Stirling-engined system dishes are more efficient than commonly used photovoltaic solar cells at converting the sun's heat to electricity. The net solar-to-electricity conversion is 30%, is substantially higher than what photovoltaic cells are capable of. [so far...]
. . These prototype systems cost about $150,000. Once built in production, the cost could go down to $50,000 per unit, which would be competitive with some commonly used fuels.
. . According to the Department of Energy, about 70% of electricity in the United States is created by fossil fuels --coal, natural gas and petroleum. Nuclear power represents about 17.5% of electricity generation, and hydroelectric power is 6.7%. Other sources, including solar power, are about 2.7%.
. . Hoover dam produces upwards of 2080 Megawatts. see http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/faqs/powerfaq.html
Nov 29, 04: With gross domestic product growing by more than 9% a year, China depends on coal for 70% of its energy and needs all the "black gold" it can get. Production was pushed last year to 1.7 billion tons, up 54% from 1999. Despite this, energy shortfalls reached crisis levels this year, with power cuts commonplace.
. . More than 7,200 coal miners were killed there last year.
. . The government has invested large amounts of money in hydropower, building large dam projects, and plans to step up construction of nuclear power plants, but analysts said those sources of energy will still account for a fraction of China's power output and the country will rely on coal for years to come. Coal production is expected to reach 1.9 billion tons this year.
Nov 24, 04: Two major offshore wind farms in Denmark are giving the lie to fears that birds are being killed by flying into the huge vanes of such installations. In fact, not only were birds not dying, the Danish farms had actually benefitted the local environment, ecologist Charlotte Boesen of Denmark's Energi E2 energy trading and generation firm told the conference on wind energy. Birds were simply flying over or around the huge packs of turbines, and the seabed foundations had created an artificial reef that was attracting new species to colonize and providing a haven for fish as trawling there was banned.
. . The European Wind Energy Association, organizers of the conference, says it can hit the target of generating 75 gigawatts of electricity --or 5.5% of EU demand-- by 2010, of which 10 GW could be offshore. With initiative and government intervention to remove long term support for the CO2 emitting fossil fuel power industry, this could rise to 12% by 2020.
Nov 27, 04: The European wind energy industry, thriving as climate change tops the global agenda, says it could eventually supply all the continent's electricity, but must first overcome public resistance over eyesore turbines.
. . The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), which held its annual meeting in London this week, projected that offshore "wind farms" covering an area the size of Greece could meet Europe's electricity needs with no greenhouse gas emissions.
. . The EWEA says it can hit the target of generating 75 gigawatts (GW) of electricity --or 5.5% of demand-- by 2010, of which 10 GW could be offshore.
. . "In the longer term, a sea area of 150,000 square kilometers ... could provide enough power to satisfy all of Europe's electricity demand."
Nov 22, 04: The UK lags behind the rest of Europe in biofuel output, with little more than 10,000 tonnes produced last year --Germany and France produced more than 100,000 tons between them. Biofuels could become a major revenue earner for Britain's arable farmers within 5-10 years, but much will depend on government support.
Biofuels, which can be made from processing crops like rapeseed, sugar and wheat for blending in transport fuel, are widely seen as a way of cutting pollution and boosting farm incomes. Britain was asked by the European Union earlier this year to respond to a proposed EU directive on biofuel use, which indicates that member states set an initial usage target of 2%, rising to 5.75% by 2010. The cereal industry review said that if current planned legislation were enforced at an inclusion rate of 2%, some 700,000 tons of biofuels would be needed.
Nov 19, 04: The International Energy Agency says the world will need almost 60% more energy in 2030 than in 2002.
Oct 30, 04: Scientists at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory say they have developed the first system to convert dirty diesel fuel into a quiet, self-contained and efficient energy source. About two weeks ago, the experimental system started running a 5-kilowatt fuel cell.The technology could be installed anywhere people want to have quiet, self-contained energy systems instead of diesel generators.
. . In the future, the Navy's destroyers could run quieter, require half the fuel, pollute less and have a smaller heat signature for enemies to detect.
. . The system converts diesel fuel into a 30% hydrogen mixture. By using the diesel to run a fuel cell instead of burning it, the system produces twice the energy output, without sulfur or nitrous oxide pollution. It is also the only system specifically designed to run on high-sulfur content diesel, which the Navy can buy around the world.
Oct 26, 04: Global oil reserves will remain abundant for several decades despite a surge in energy demand but vulnerable supply routes and reliance on fossil fuels loom as potential risks, the International Energy Agency said. In its World Energy Outlook 2004, the IEA predicted energy demand would rise by 59% between now and 2030 but that oil prices would average no more than 35 dollars a barrel. "The Earth contains more than enough energy resources to meet demand for many decades to come."
. . He nonetheless described increased vulnerability of energy supply routes and continuing heavy reliance on carbon-emitting fossil fuels as "deeply troubling".
. . Oil, gas and coal would provide 85% of the energy needed for such increases, with the latter alone accounting for one-fifth, "mostly in power generation and increasingly concentrated in China and India".
. . "These trends are, however, not unalterable. Our analysis shows that more vigorous government action could steer the world onto a markedly different energy path."
. . Among its details, the IEA report forecast average crude oil prices would fall to 22 dollars a barrel, "in year-2000 dollars", in 2006. In 2010, they would begin to climb steadily, reaching 29 dollars in 2030.
. . Russia was singled out as "the most important energy country" at present, but the agency said uncertainties remained regarding its role in the future.
. . Looking at electricity, the report said demand would double between 2002 and 2030, with most growth coming again in developing countries. "Power generation will account for nearly half of world consumption of natural gas", although coal "will remain the world's single largest source of electricity generation" unless governments take measures to limit carbon dioxide emissions. Nuclear power's share in electricity production is set to fall as "nearly 40% of existing nuclear plants will be retired".

. . Under the alternative scenario, energy efficient and environmentally friendly policies could trim overall demand by about 10%, with a drop in oil demand equivalent to the combined production of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria. The amount of coal saved would be "roughly equal to the current coal consumption of China and India combined".
. . "Energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide would be reduced by some six gigatons, or 16%" from the reference scenario's figure. "This is roughly equal to the combined current emissions of the United States and Canada", the IEA noted.
. . [We do NOT believe the rosy picture above. There's not that much oil anywhere but in the oil company's announcements.]

Nanosolar has developed a material of metal oxide nanowires that can be sprayed as a liquid onto a plastic substrate where it self-assembles into a photovoltaic film. A roll-to-roll process similar to high-speed printing offers a high-volume approach that doesn't require high temperatures or vacuum equipment. Nanosys intends for its solar coatings --based on structures called nanotetrapods-- to be sprayed onto roofing tiles. And Konarka is developing plastic sheets embedded with titanium dioxide nanocrystals coated with light-absorbing dyes.
Oct, 04: The elevators at Seven World Trade Center, which is under construction at New York's ground zero, feature a dispatch system that groups people traveling to nearby floors into the same elevator, thereby saving elevator stops and trips. People who work in the building will enter it by swiping ID cards that will tell the elevators their floor; readouts will then tell them which elevator to use. The building also has windows with a coating that blocks heat while letting in light.
. . The Dallas/Fort Worth Airport installed a 6 million gallon thermal storage tank that lets the airport chill air conditioner coolant in the middle of the night, when energy is cheapest, for use during the day, when energy is more expensive. This has cut cooling costs by 91% during periods of peak electrical demand.
. . "The operating costs of a building in its lifetime can be hundreds of times more expensive than the building was in the first place."
For 40 years, the Hanford reservation made plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal. Today, work there centers on a $50 billion to $60 billion cleanup, to be finished by 2035. An estimated 67 of the tanks leaked radioactive brew into the soil [so far], contaminating the aquifer and threatening the Columbia River.
Oct 21, 04: France wants to remain a world leader in atomic energy, announcing that it will build the first of a new generation of pressurised water nuclear plants at a site on the Normandy coast. Construction of the EPR (European Pressurised Water Reactor) is due to start in 2007 near Cherbourg, with the first electricity being produced five years later.
. . At a cost of three billion euros (3.8 billion dollars), the reactor will be the first of a so-called "third generation", intended to take over from France's existing stock of 19 plants --with 58 reactors-- over the next two decades. France currently produces more than 75% of its electricity from "second generation" nuclear installations.
. . According to EDF, the reactor should reduce the risk of accident by ten and its double casing be able to withstand the impact of an aircraft flown by terrorists. The design also means that even if there is a disaster, the reactor core will collapse in on itself to contain radiation leaks.
. . The EPR reactor should generate 1,600 megawatts of electricity --compared to 900 for most current reactors-- need less regular re-charging, and have a life span of 60 years.
. . Greenpeace said "We are investing three billion euros in a technology that is almost obsolete for political reasons that have no connection with a rational, properly thought-out energy policy."
Oct 19, 04: At today's average wholesale prices, wind costs 4.2 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with 4 cents for coal, 6.8 cents for natural gas, 9.1 cents for oil and 10 cents for nuclear power, according to Kyle Datta, managing director at the Rocky Mountain Institute.
. . Stephen Leeb, president of Leeb Capital Management and co-author of "The Oil Factor", predicts that oil could hit $100 a barrel by 2010.
. . Less than 3% of U.S. electricity now comes from renewables such as wind, solar, geothermal, wood and waste, but that share is expected to increase as the price of fossil fuel rises.
. . About 50% of electricity comes from coal, 20% from nuclear power, 17% from natural gas, 7% from hydroelectric and 3% from oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
. . The Energy Information Administration has calculated the average price — factoring in fuel, construction and operating costs — of various electricity sources over 20 years starting in 2010. It estimates that wind would cost $50.54 per megawatt hour, compared with $61.32 for nuclear power, $53.42 for coal and $49.66 for natural gas.
Oct 18, 04: A scientist says the US could more than double its hydropower supply by harnessing the energy of smaller streams. Doug Hall with the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory said the feat can be achieved using small turbines or generators instead of dams. Small-scale hydropower, he said, could help the country meet its energy needs while reducing pollution and the need to import fossil fuels. "There is a huge untapped resource in the U.S.. Our project's mission is to lead and facilitate the next generation of hydropower, which will be small, distributed hydropower without the use of dams because of their environmental impacts."
. . The United States ranks fourth in the world in available undeveloped hydropower, they said.
. . The team developed a map of all the streams in the nation that could be used. The project, sponsored by the Department of Energy, will include a catalogue of low-power hydropower technologies, calculations to determine how much installing one would cost and regional maps to evaluate whether a particular site would be good to develop.
. . Not including wild and scenic rivers and streams and those that run through wildlife areas or national or state parks, about 170,000 megawatts of power could be developed in the nation, the INEEL resource assessment found. That is more than twice what is developed now, according to the report.
. . In the United States, about 80,000 megawatts of power provide about 7% of the nation's energy demand, according to the Department of Energy. About 12,000 megawatts of that power is from "low-power hydropower", energy seized from streams that would produce less than 1 megawatt.
. . In the 1980s, when tax incentives were in place, new small hydropower plants boomed. But when the tax credits ended in the early 1990s, so did the development.
Oct 18, 04: FedEx, the world's largest air-express shipper, said it was building the nation's second largest private solar power system atop its international airport hub in Oakland, California. It'll generate 904-kilowatts from nearly 5,800 solar panels, & will provide about 25% of FedEx's annual power at the hub, where 1,700 people work. Up to 50% of the cost will be funded by state money administered through utility Pacific Gas and Electric. The world's largest solar energy system, in Germany, will be 10 megawatts.
. . This fall, FedEx will increase the number of its gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles to 18 on the road and two for experimental use. It's working with green group Environmental Defense and Eaton Corp, the manufacturer of its hybrid trucks, to bring the vehicles closer to mass production. "We are working diligently to make these vehicles viable not only for us, but for other fleets as well, we want other companies out there to adopt this technology and share in this environmental benefit."
Oct, 04: China only became a net oil importer in 1993, but skyrocketing demand means it now buys 40% of its oil abroad.
Three-quarters of Britons believe wind farms are necessary to help meet demand for energy, a survey by the British Wind Energy Association.
Oct 6, 04: Trinidad, CA: There are about 9,000 kms of open water between northern Japan and the Humboldt County coast. "We have one record of waves breaking over the top of our lighthouse", said Trinidad's mayor, Dean Heyenga. "That's 90 feet above sea level."
. . A Minnesota energy-engineering company will introduce the Seadog, a pump that operates on wave motion.
. . About 30 wave-energy ventures have been tried somewhere around the world in recent years -- and most have foundered. The Wave Dragon? Abandoned in its native land of Denmark. The Salter Duck? Dead in the water off the United Kingdom. The Archimedes Wave Swing in the Netherlands? In a state of flux after its original investors pulled out. The Sea Clam, the Tapchan, the Pendulor? All belly up. Some systems have managed to move from drawing boards to the sea, where they are actually producing small amounts of power, including such projects as the Pelamis in Scotland and the Limpet in Ireland.
. . The Seadog, say its inventors, represents a different, simpler and more rugged approach. An anchored mechanical pump that uses wave action to transport seawater to an elevated reservoir onshore. Water from the reservoir is then released down a flume to turn a turbine, which produces AC electricity.
. . Trials last year showed the Seadog, in 26-inch surf, generated an operational pressure of 125 to 168 pounds per square inch, enough to push water almost 400 feet up.
. . A single unit installed off the Humboldt coast by the end of the year to demonstrate the essential feasibility.
. . A 16-pump project will follow, hooked up to a 50,000- gallon tank to store seawater for the hydropower production. That would cost about $3 million and yield about 537 kilowatts, enough power to service about 600 homes.
. . A 200-pump, 6,700-kilowatt system would follow, powering more than 7,000 homes. According to the company's business plan, that would cost about $16 million to build and require about $1.6 million in annual maintenance and operational costs. Its electricity would cost about 31/2 cents a kilowatt-hour, which, generally speaking, is comparable to the cost of coal-generated electricity, cheaper than natural gas generation.
. . Ultimately, said Thomas, a 1-square-mile array could be built, generating about 750 megawatts, enough power for about 100,000 homes. If things ever get that far, such a plant would cost $217 million to construct, cost about $110 million a year to operate, and yield power priced at 2.08 cents a kilowatt-hour.
Anything that can be turned on with a remote control is never truly off, since some portion of the electronics has to remain alive to be at your beck and call.
. . My small three-piece speaker system, with the speakers turned off, 6 watts. A larger three-piece system, also turned off, 12W. The router, 6W; the cable modem, 7.5W. An IBM "dogbone" laptop charger with no computer plugged in was using 2.5W; with a fully charged computer, 3W; with a running computer, 16W. My iPod charger consumed a commendable 0.6W when nothing was connected to it; it used 2W to 3W when charging the player. The cable box: 15 watts.
. . The multifunction printer was using 7W. A 19-inch monitor ate up 7W in standby. It drew 70W when it was on. Likewise, the HP computer drew 6W when it was "off" and nary a light was glowing. Compared with the 70W startup power and 60W running power, that's not bad.
. . All told, I had about 80 watts' worth of computer stuff running day and night, whether I had turned it off or not.
. . That's 876 kilowatt-hours per year, or just over 9% of my total electric bill —and I'm just counting computer gear, not home electronics. At local rates, I'm paying about $100 per year extra.
. . Multiply that 100W by all of the households in America --standby power could cost us 10% of our total usage. Even if we only cut it in half, we're still talking billions in savings. Every kilowatt-hour saved reduces pollution and decreases oil imports. ~Bill=Machrone, PC=Mag
Sept 27, 04: In a north German town, a huge crane is helping to build the world's largest wind power plant, a prototype for offshore wind farms from 2006.
. . Just across a meadow of grazing cows sits another source of energy, one generation older and a symbol of a different political ideology. Built in the 1970s, the Brunsbuettel nuclear power station is still part of the backbone of German energy production, but will soon reach the end of its life cycle because of Germany's drive to phase out nuclear energy.
. . Each of the 62-meter blades weighs 18 tons. The tower will be more than 180 meters (590 feet) high when measured from the base to the tip of a rotor blade, almost twice the height of New York's 93 meter Statue of Liberty.
. . It [alone] is expected to produce 17 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity a year. 500 of them = 8,500 GWh/yr. Its 806 MW nuclear neighbor generates around 6,000 GWh per year.
. . Germany must replace nearly half of its 100,000 MW generation capacity in the next two decades and critics say renewables will never be able to fill that gap. "That's why it's foolish to shut the reactors so soon. It would overstrain the German economy. We need more time and have to extend the running times for nuclear plants by 5-7 years."
Aug, 04: Today, the installed cost of high-efficiency silicon solar panels starts at $3 per watt. "Our customers should get to $1 a watt by 2007", declares CEO of Solaicx. Their lower-cost wafers have yielded prototype solar cells that are 21% efficient.
. . In a less efficient but cheaper system, a conductive polymer is salted with nano-size carbon molecules dubbed buckyballs. Last year, researchers at Germany's Siemens Solar Group (now Shell Solar) applied a very thin coating of the buckyball mixture on a plastic film and produced a solar cell that topped 5% efficiency -- the best yet for an organic solar cell. The cost of these solar cells would be a fraction that of their silicon cousins, so a homeowner could buy five or ten times the surface area and still save money.
. . Researchers are confident that efficiency can be hiked to 7%, perhaps 10%. Then a solar coating on a roof could supply all the required electricity to a home.
. . Nanosys and Nanosolar, both in Palo Alto, Calif., and Konarka Technologies in Lowell, Mass., are developing liquid-plastic compounds that can be applied to most surfaces. But instead of buckyballs, they spice the mixture with nano-size semiconducting wires or pinheads called quantum dots.
. . Japanese giant Matsushita has teamed up with Nanosys to develop solar coatings that could be painted on roofs and walls. Commercial products are still a couple of years off. A solar film can also be supplied as peel-and-stick rolls.
. . Japan is way ahead of every other country. In 2001, its annual capacity was nearly four times that of America's 167.8 Mwp --the p means peak, w/o clouds-- and Germany was a solid No. 2, with 260.6 Mwp. Last year, Japan generated half of all the world's solar power, built 44% of all new solar energy equipment, and installed five times as much new solar power capacity as the U.S.
Aug 31, 04: Communist Laos defended a billion-dollar hydro-electric project against activists who insist Indochina's biggest dam will be a social and environmental disaster for the tiny, impoverished nation.
. . Laos officials told a World Bank workshop in Bangkok the proposed Nam Theun 2 dam was the best option for development and fighting poverty in a nation where 70% of the people live on less than $2 a day.
. . Nam Theun 2 will have a generation capacity of 1,070 megawatts, with 95% of the power sold to Thailand, earning Laos some $80 million a year.
. . Critics say the dam will force thousands of people from their homes and threaten wildlife, including fish stocks in the Nam Theun river and endangered Asian elephants on the Nakai Plateau. An estimated 6,000 people will have to be resettled from flooded areas on the plateau, with another 40,000 people who live along the river affected.
. . "Nam Theun 2 is the Laotian version of Thailand's infamous Pak Mun Dam", said Tyson Roberts, with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Pak Mun was built on the Mun river, a tributary of the Mekong, in the 1990s but has never performed up to expectations. Local fishermen complained it damaged fish stocks severely and they angrily demanded compensation from the Thai government.
Aug 20, 04: California should try to add solar energy systems to 1 million homes by 2017 to save electricity and cut pollution from power plants, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said. New legislation by state Sen. Kevin Murray to implement the energy plan would require home builders to offer solar panels as an option for new homes in the state by 2008. Home buyers would get an estimate of costs and energy savings from installing a solar system, and the state Energy Commission would offer rebates to add photovoltaic solar panels.
. . The program could save 2,700 megawatts of electricity during peak demand periods and offset more than 50 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, the governor's office said in a release. One megawatt is power for about 1,000 homes.
Amory Lovins has a simple message: Saving energy is easier than finding more.
. . "Almost all peak power is produced in extremely inefficient gas-fired combustion turbines. So during peak demand, reining in consumption in even a small percentage of users can lead to disproportionate savings in energy and costs. Saving 5% of U.S. electricity, including peak periods, would save nearly 10% of total U.S. gas consumption, dropping the price by about $2 and saving the economy over $50 billion a year.
. . The potential wind power in the Dakotas alone could make enough hydrogen to run all U.S. highway vehicles, if they're very efficient.
. . Ultralight hybrid vehicles will be ubiquitous, some with fuel cells so they work as distributed generators. While they're parked, instead of sitting idle, the fuel cells could be used to generate power onto the grid."
As of July, 04, . 16,695 coal-bed methane wells had been drilled in the Powder River Basin and the state had issued 38,446 permits for coal-bed methane wells, many of which are awaiting federal approval.
Aug 9, 04: China's roadways, once synonymous with throngs of bicycles, are experiencing an explosion of car traffic driven by the nation's growing consumer class. China is the world's fastest growing auto market. According to Chinese government statistics, over two million cars were sold in the country in 2003, a nearly 80% increase over 2002. Only three of every thousand Chinese own a car today. But in an economically expanding nation of some 1.3 billion people, it's not hard to envision that China could someday become the world's largest auto market.
. . Larger cities are reshaping neighborhoods and even banning bicycles from some roadways to address congestion. Road accidents caused over a hundred thousand deaths in each of the past two years.
. . China is currently the world's second largest oil consumer, but still only consumes about one-third as much oil as the U.S. Chinese demand for oil grew more than 10% last year and is expected to be about 13% this year. Only the United States produces more greenhouse gas emissions than China today. However, over the next few decades, China's growth could far outstrip other nations' —-in part because of the auto boom.
. . While coal use -—responsible for some 75% of China's energy production—- remains a primary source of air pollution, the growing number of automobiles in China is rapidly compounding the problem.
. . Emission standards, which were unknown in China before 2000, are now in place. While the standards lag those of Europe by a decade, government officials are trying to play catch-up. New fuel-efficiency standards have also been enacted, similar to the CAFE [corporate average fuel efficiency] standards in the U.S.
Aug 5, 04: California officials propose that half of all new homes in the state run on solar energy in 10 years, an effort spurred by $100 million in annual incentives paid for by electricity consumers. The plan proposes that the state give rebates to home builders who install solar panels on new homes, and incentives for installing panels on existing homes.
. . The program would be paid for with a new monthly utility bill surcharge of about 25-30 cents per household, projected to raise $1 billion before the surcharge ends in 10 years. But homeowners would be free to sell excess solar energy back to electricity companies, leaving them with no net cost.
. . Environmental groups said the proposal would once again make California a national trendsetter while encouraging technical advances that would help make solar power more affordable worldwide. The solar power installations would be the equivalent of 36 new, 75 megawatt natural gas plants and would avoid pumping 50 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air from the accompanying combustion, the EPA estimated.
. . The incentives should be enough to get solar panels on 40% of new homes by 2010 and 50% by 2013, the EPA projects. If the incentives aren't enough, the proposal would require panels on 5% of homes by 2010 and half of new homes by 2020. Proponents estimate 1.2 million homes would be producing solar energy by 2017, including 884,000 new and 313,000 older houses.
. . A solar incentive bill, approved by the Senate and pending in an Assembly committee, would require that 15% of new homes come with solar panels by 2006. The requirement would increase by 10%age points a year until it would mandate that 55% of homes come solar-equipped by 2010.
July 29, 04: Boosting the average gas mileage of all U.S. vehicles to 36 mpg would save nearly 2 million of those 11 million barrels of imported oil every day --and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which cause global warming.
. . Senator Kerry is setting a goal of getting 20% of America's electricity from wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and other renewable sources by 2020, up from the current level of about 2% (not including hydropower).
. . Kerry would work to increase supplies of natural gas by pushing for a pipeline from Alaska and for new ports where liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be unloaded. He'll support use of coal --the most abundant fuel in America-- by promoting efforts to burn it more cleanly. [note: "clean" doesn't matter in regards to CO2!! Coal is carbon!! We can't burn it any more!!]
July 29, 04: The Energy Department took a long-awaited first step Thursday to require improved energy efficiency for residential furnaces, electric transformers and commercial air conditioners and heat pumps. The department announced it will soon issue new proposed standards for the devices. Energy efficiency advocates welcomed the move, but said the department should have begun the process years ago.
. . The Energy Department in 2001 said the three standards were its highest priority, but then missed four sets of self-imposed deadlines for advancing the new requirements, said Steve Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
. . The ACEEE, a private advocacy group, estimates that the three new standards could save enough electricity to meet the needs of 6 million households, cut natural gas use by 400 billion cubic feet, and reduce peak electricity demand to eliminate the need for 80 power plants.
. . It's still unclear when a final regulation might be issued.
July 29, 04: Maine and three other states are potential sites for a $4 million wave energy plant that would produce enough electricity to power 500 homes in its pilot phase. The wave energy device looks like a broken pencil floating on the water, aimed into the waves. About 15 feet in diameter, it consists of four tubular steel pieces that move with the motion of the waves. Hydraulic pistons located at the three joints create electricity as the device pitches and yaws on the ocean surface.
. . Although Maine's wave energy can't compare to what's generated on the West Coast, "it's still significant". Atwell also believes a wave energy project would have a better shot at becoming reality if it were combined with a project to create electricity from the region's strong tidal currents.
. . Wave energy won't fit everywhere, Atwell said. "So I think we're going to need a lot of alternative energy options to replace the fossil fuels over the next generation or two."
July 23, 04: Beijing has experienced its first brown-out of the year --a partial power cut to save energy as China grapples with soaring electricity demand. It came as China's state media announced that the authorities have approved two nuclear power projects in regions particularly hit by shortages. Thousands of companies in Shanghai have switched to working at night so there is no need to use air conditioning.
. . China has four nuclear power plants, accounting for less than 2% of the country's total energy supply. It hopes to expand that to make up 4% of the total by 2020. Energy industry officials warned that China is expected to see a 250m-ton annual crude oil shortage by 2020.
July 23, 04: Compared to the macroscopic size of traditional fuel cells that can take up an entire room, thin film SOFCs (solid oxide fuel cells) are one micron thick –-the equivalent of about one-hundredth of a human hair. Putting this into perspective, the size equivalent of four sugar cubes would produce 80 watts –-more than enough to operate a laptop computer, eliminating clunky batteries. The volume of two cans soda would produce more than five kilowatts, enough to power a typical household --at an efficiency of approximately 65%.
. . This would be a twofold increase over power plants today, as they operate at 30 to 35% efficiency. Stand-alone household fuel cell units could form the basis for a new 'distributed power' system. In this concept, energy not used by the household would be fed back into a main grid.
. . They operate at a much lower temperature than other solid oxide fuel cells, yet do not need a catalyst. Despite their 60 to 70% efficiency, SOFCs, in general, operate at 900 to 1,000 degrees Celsius, a very high temperature that requires exotic structural materials and significant thermal insulation. However, the thin film solid oxide fuel cell has an operating temperature of 450 to 500 degrees Celsius.
July 22, 04: More than a year after BMW Manufacturing Co. announced plans to convert landfill gas to electricity, officials say the project has exceeded expectations. Area carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 34,000 tons in the last nine months of 2003 because the plant used less natural gas and electricity and because the methane gas emissions from the landfill were captured. BMW is on target to eliminate annually the equivalent of emissions from more than 60,000 cars. In addition to reducing emissions, BMW saves about $1 million a year in energy costs.
. . The methane gas generated by the decaying waste is shipped about 10 miles to the plant from the landfill. The energy is used in various processes including the paint shop, assembly lines and body lines, and to heat and cool the facility.
July 13, 04: As oil prices rise, companies promoting thin-film solar cells and other alternative-energy technologies are rapidly attracting venture funding, research grants, and the interest of many of the tech industry's most influential figures. While U.S. concerns about energy are greater today than at any time since the 1970s, the more immediate drivers for the interest in alternative energy are technological improvements and declining costs.
June 8, 04: The Eiffel Tower in Paris has had an illuminating makeover designed to cut its yearly running costs by replacing its lights with new ones that use less energy. The 352 lamps used to show off the girders of the 324-meter structure were changed for ones it installed 19 years ago and use 38% less electricity, the company, Philips, said.
June 6, 04: While still a heavy polluter, the coal industry has made environmental strides and can deliver energy for perhaps another 250 years. Yet 20 years from now, renewable energy will amount to less than 7% of Americans' fuel, the Department of Energy predicts. The dominant 40% share will come from that 20th century standby —-can you guess?-— petroleum.
. . By industry estimates, up to 20,000 solar electricity units and 100,000 heaters have been installed in the United States — diminutive numbers compared to the country's 70 million single-family houses. Most solar units are in the sunny West and Southwest. Some can supply half of a home's electricity.
. . Photovoltaic production has doubled over the past five years. The federal government has a goal of 1 million rooftop photovoltaic and heating solar systems by 2010. For now, it gives solar tax breaks only to businesses, not homeowners. For them, systems now cost $12,000 or more for typical homes and can take more than 15 years to pay for themselves. Tapping into a power line on the street can cost as little as $100. A dozen states, including California and New York, are again trying to help by subsidizing photovoltaic systems. The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund says about 200 sites have been approved for subsidies in this state.
. . Japan, with initially heavy government funding, now has close to 200,000 photovoltaic systems. It is the biggest single force behind a fivefold rise in world production since 1998. Germany has more than 100,000 units.
June 4, 04: Ministers attending the world's biggest meeting on renewable energy pledged to "substantially increase with a sense of urgency" this source's share in the global energy supply. The four-day Bonn meeting which ended today gathered around 3,000 ministers or senior officials, corporate executives, energy users and green activists, making it the biggest forum of its kind. Representatives from 154 countries took part.
. . France and Germany agreed to step up cooperation in wind energy, sketching plans to build wind farms together.The facilities may be located onshore or offshore. Global power capacity generated by the wind surged by 26 percent last year to reach 39,294 megawatts.
. . Germany installed 2,645 MW, bringing its total to 14,609 MW, or 40% of the global total --6.2% of the electricity used in Germany. It predicts the share will rise to 30% by 2030. Second was the United States, which added 1,687 MW, for a total of 6,374 MW, followed by Spain, up 1,377 MW to 6,202 MW, and Denmark, whose increase of 1,377 MW brought its wind-generated tally to 3,110 MW.
June 3, 04: Speaking to ministers and representatives from 154 countries, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pleaded with the world to understand this risk to security and prosperity, and to diversify its energy sources accordingly. "Overwhelming dependence on oil has enormously increased our vulnerability to this form of terrorism", he said. "Making renewable energies a mainstream resource is imperative not just for our economies, it is imperative for security in our globalised world."
. . The United States is opposed to any specific promises or binding rules, preferring to let market forces dictate energy supply and demand.
. . German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin took a swipe at the laisse-faire approach. "In Germany, we have set down ambitious goals for renewable energy. We have doubled the share of renewable energies in our electricity supply in the space of five years. Our goal is for renewables to account for a 20-percent share of electricity needs by 2020. This 20-percent goal is in the renewable energy law. We did not put it in a statement, we made it binding."
June 2, 04: Renewables account for just a tiny part --only 5%-- of world energy supplies, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) figures for 2000. That compares with 38% for oil, 50% for coal and gas, and 7% for nuclear. On current trends, the shares will be almost unchanged by 2030, even though fossil fuels have been condemned for driving climate change through carbon pollution.
June 2, 04: The Dead Sea could disappear within 50 years unless a scheme to build a canal from the Red Sea to replenish it is implemented soon, Jordanian Water Minister Hazem Nasser warned. He unveiled a plan to save it known as the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal. Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority share the waters of the sea, the lowest dry point on Earth.
. . Plans for the 200-km canal have been in the pipeline for years. The project aims at stabilising the sea's level, which has been shrinking by about one meter a year and whose area is about one third less than it used to be in the 1960s. The highly salty body of water, in which nothing lives, now lies 415 meters below sea level. Its drop is mostly due to the diversion of the Jordan River for irrigation by the riparian [irrigating] countries.
. . The canal would produce 851 million cubic meters of water each year, two thirds of which would be delivered to Jordan and the rest to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to the ministry of water. [The drop can produce prodigious amounts of hydroelectric power --w/o a dam.]
June 1, 04: A new Australian government-funded study is investigating the possibility of harnessing bruised or spoilt bananas --deemed not worth selling to consumers-- to provide energy for 500 homes. Bananas would be combined with bacteria to produce methane. Pipes would take the gas to a turbine which could be plugged into the main electricity grid. Ethanol from sugar cane has already been tested for commercial energy use and the husks of Australia's native Macadamia nuts have been used as fuel to make electricity.
May 29, 04: General Motors will equip 235 Seattle new buses with clean hybrid technology, which will increase the fuel economy of the buses by up to 60%. The yearly fuel savings from the new fleet of buses will be equal to replacing more than 8,000 internal combustion engine cars with hybrid electric vehicles.
. . GM's new road-ready hybrid electric technology will start saving the Seattle area 750,000 gallons of fuel per year. If nine other major metropolitan cities [listed below] adopted this technology for its buses, it could mean saving more than 40 million gallons of fuel a year.
. . These buses will also improve the air, with fewer emissions — they will produce 90% fewer particulates, and 60% fewer oxides of nitrogen than the buses they are replacing.
. . Allison hybrid systems are in pilot programs in Philadelphia, Minneapolis; Portland; Austin, Texas; Salt Lake City; Hartford, Conn.; Orange County, Calif.; Houston and Newark, N.J.
Our society spent $1 billion on a North Sea oil rig rather than $10 million on a superwindow coating machine with the same "energy output". That's $990 million and a lot of precious oil lost because builders bought the wrong windows. Or maybe it's because we spent $1 billion on power plants instead of $10 million on a machine to make compact fluorescent lamps of equivalent energy value, all because builders bought the wrong lightbulbs.
. . Low-emission glass (Low-E) is a clear glass, it has a microscopically-thin coating of metal oxide. This allows the sun's heat and light to pass trough the glass into the building. At the same time, it blocks heat from leaving the room, reducing heat loss considerably.
Lovins: Molecular hydrogen (two hydrogen atoms, H2) is eight times lighter than natural gas. Per unit of energy contained, it weighs 64% less than gasoline or 61% less than natural gas: 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of hydrogen has about the same energy as 1 U.S. gallon of gasoline, which weighs not 2.2 but 6.2 pounds.17 But the flip side of lightness is bulk.
. . Per unit of volume, hydrogen gas contains only 30% as much energy as natural gas, both at atmospheric pressure. Even when hydrogen is compressed to 170 times atmospheric pressure (170 bar), it contains only 6% as much energy as the same volume of gasoline. Hydrogen is thus most advantageous where lightness is worth more than compactness.
. . To reinforce this sixth point, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says bulk hydrogen made and consumed onsite costs about $0.71/kg. That's equivalent in energy content to $0.72 per gallon of gasoline.24 But per mile driven —-which is the objective -— it's equivalent to about one-third to one-half that price, i.e., to about $0.24–0.36/gallon equivalent, because of the 2–3-fold greater efficiency of a hydrogen fuel cell than a gasoline engine in running a car. Of course, the price of hydrogen delivered into the car's fuel tank will be much higher. For example, DOE says the delivered price of industrial liquid hydrogen is about $2.2–3.1/kg. If it could be delivered into the tank of a car for the same price, it would be roughly equivalent per mile to $1-a-gallon gasoline. Thus it can cost several times as much to deliver liquid hydrogen as to produce it. (Fortunately, gaseous hydrogen can be produced at a filling station and put into the car for well under $2/kg.)
May 26, 04: Japan is planning to pay an extra 895 million dollars to ensure construction of the world's first prototype nuclear fusion reactor happens on home soil, it was reported.
. . The initiative is a bid to break the deadlock between Japan and the European Union over the venue of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project. Participants in the 10-billion-dollar project are the European Union, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States. It will cost five billion dollars to build the reactor, and five billion to run it for 10 to 20 years, according to project supporters.
. . The choice of the site must be made by consensus [that means 100% agreement] and not by a simple majority, partly because all parties will be required to fund the reactor. The Japanese site has many assets: the proximity of a port, a foundation of solid bedrock and the close proximity of a US military base. The French site offers an existing research facility and a better climate.
May 26, 04: The European Commission said without a major improvement, the 15 older members of the EU will miss their target to derive 12% of their energy consumption from renewable sources by 2010. In a report, the EU executive said only four members of the EU-15 were on course to meet the 2010 goals --Denmark, Finland, Germany and Spain-- including a target of 22% of electricity consumption from green energy.
. . Despite the commission's call for stronger action, Greenpeace accused Brussels of failing the environment by not proposing a new target for green energy use by 2020.
. . The commission urged policy action in the form of tax breaks and subsidy to encourage more production of energy from sources including the wind, biofuels and water.
May 24, 04: Londoners who drive their kids to school in "Chelsea tractors" are "idiots", Mayor Ken Livingstone, who's up for re-election next month, said. Chelsea tractors is Brit slang for four-wheel-drive SUVs, or sport utility vehicles, and on a TV talk show the outspoken socialist mayor said there's no place for such gas-guzzlers in the European Union's biggest capital city.
May 12, 04: Rapid global economic expansion is fueling the biggest increase in world oil demand growth for 16 years, the International Energy Agency said. In its monthly Oil Market Report, the Paris-based agency raised its forecast for incremental oil demand in 2004 by 270,000 barrels a day to 1.95 million bpd on the 80.6 million bpd world market. Stronger-than-expected energy consumption among industrialized nations is bolstering explosive demand growth in China. In China, second quarter consumption is expected up 20.9 pct on an annual basis.
General Motors has estimated it would cost $11.7 billion to build 6,500 hydrogen fuel stations in 100 U.S. metropolitan areas and 5,200 more on national highways.
A University of Illinois research team is working on turning pig manure into a form of crude oil that could be refined to heat homes or generate electricity. Years of research and fine-tuning are ahead before the idea could be commercially viable, but results so far indicate there might be big benefits for farmers and consumers.
. . The thermochemical conversion process uses intense heat and pressure to break down the molecular structure of manure into oil. It's much like the natural process that turns organic matter into oil over centuries, but in the laboratory, the process can take as little as a half-hour.
. . A similar process is being used at a plant in Carthage, Mo., where tons of turkey entrails, feathers, fat and grease from a nearby Butterball turkey plant are converted into a light crude oil.
Mar 28, 04: Oil industry chiefs have warned the Australian government it should act quickly to encourage more oil exploration because of a dramatic decline in energy reserves. Production levels of some types of energy had fallen dramatically over the last few years.
. . Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association president Malcolm Garratt told an industry conference the government had developed some positive initiatives but more needed to be done. "Success in exploration activity is failing to make up the shortfall."
. . Garratt said the opportunities for finding new oil fields lay in exploration of deepwater and frontier areas and it was in Australia's interests to stimulate development due to the long lead times involved.
CLIP: The headlights of the oncoming cars, and tail-lights of those in front, snake across the countryside far over the horizon. Six lanes of tightly packed cars are cruising nose to tail at 70–80mph. I start counting and estimating. I reckon we are looking at around 60,000 to 80,000 cars an hour with an average of two occupants. It's a human pipeline transporting around 140,000 people every hour towards and away from London.
. . An InterCity train might typically carry 700 people -- estimating. So on this Sunday we would require around 200 trains an hour between London and Bristol. But the best we might achieve would be one every 10 minutes-- say 12 an hour--six to come and six to go. And at this level, such a train service would only contribute an insignificant 6% relief. So is it remotely feasible that any train system could make a real difference? Not with today's technology, for sure.
. . [Foolishness]:
• Mrs. Smith washing bottles and beer cans in hot water to be transported by car to the bottle and can bank -- saving the planet by wasting 100-fold more energy than it can recover.
• Transport policies that see 100-fold more pollution from traffic jams than would result from a wise road building program.
• The continued exploitation of oil and destruction of reserves, while R&D into alternative energy sources remains grossly under-funded.
The implications of a widespread switchover to gas- electric hybrids are immense for both consumers and the auto industry. Even bumping up the average gas mileage of U.S. vehicles to a modest 40 miles per gallon by 2012 would mean the United States could trim its oil consumption by three million barrels per day—more than it imports from all the Persian Gulf countries. And though buyers would have to pay more initially for gas-electric hybrids, they could save, on average, $5,000 at the gas pump over the 15-year life of a vehicle.
Mar 10, 04: Power capacity generated by the wind surged by more than a quarter last year, mainly thanks to an expansion in Germany and other European countries, according to industry figures. Wind generators installed around the world by the end of 2003 had the capacity to produce 39,294 megawatts, an increase of 8,133 MW, or 26 percent over 2002, they said.
. . Germany installed 2,645 MW, bringing its total to 14,609 MW, or 40% of the global total. Second was the United States, which added 1,687 MW, for a total of 6,374 MW, followed by Spain, up 1,377 MW to 6,202 MW, and Denmark, whose increase of 1,377 MW brought its wind- generated tally to 3,110 MW. "A number of countries, including the Netherlands, Italy, Japan and the UK, now have several hundred megawatts installed and are nearing the 1,000-MW mark."
. . So it's time to ditch the source's tag as "alternative" energy.
. . Global investment in wind energy at the end of last year was worth eight billion euros (10 billion dollars), compared with 6.8 billion euros (8.5 billion) in 2002.
. . But almost all of the installed capacity is in Europe and the United States, which together account for 88 percent of the worldwide total. The only other significant player is India, which accounts for 5% of the total, adding 408 MW last year to reach 2,110 MW.
. . The total global generating capacity, of more than 39,000 megawatts, is enough to power 19 million average European households, or 47 million people, the press release said.
Cycling is a way of life in the pancake-flat Netherlands, which boasts more bicycles than its 16 million inhabitants.
Mar 1, 04: Wave power firm Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) said it had signed a deal with Spanish electricity utility Iberdrola for a pilot project involving 10 power-generating buoys. These will be placed about a half-mile off Spain's north coast. OPT has been ocean testing its kit since late 1997, and has a similar pilot scheme running off Hawaii with the support of the U.S. Navy. Hawaii's fishermen have welcomed the buoys as fish attractors.
. . Although both the Hawaiian and Spanish projects will generate a tiny 1.25 megawatts, Taylor expects to have a 100 megawatt wave farm in place by 2006. The full-sized wave power farms will use a new generation of 500 kilowatt "PowerBuoys" four times the size of those OPT will use in its Spanish pilot scheme.
. . OPT says the buoys offer between 80 and 90 percent availability, comparable with conventional fossil fuel generators, and enjoy a key advantage over wind (30-45 percent) and solar (20-30%) power generation.
. . They take up less space per megawatt than either windfarms or conventional shore-based generators. Ocean Power believes the 100 megawatt plants will be able to produce at an operating cost of 3-4 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with 5-6 cents for wind.
. . Taylor also has high hopes for starting a project off Japan.
Feb 27, 04: Intel Corp. published a specification for improving the efficiency of a PC's power supply Thursday, an effort an environmental nonprofit applauded. Version 2.0 of Intel's 12-volt power supply document addresses the power supplies used in today's PCs. The new specification indirectly acknowledges that many PCs don't need to run at their full power for such menial tasks as writing e-mail, and that power can be saved as a result.
. . In fact, if the new recommended guidelines are adhered to by power-supply manufacturers, the specification will help save 16 billion kilowatt hours per year, or enough power to run a medium-sized city. Rival Advanced Micro Devices, meanwhile, has taken a different tack to reduce power, dialing down the operating voltage as part of its "Cool 'n' Quiet" technology the chip maker has built into its Athlon 64 CPUs.
. . Note that AMD has done it & is shipping CPUs, while Intel caught MS's habit & has published a piece of paper!!
Feb 19, 04: A magnitude 4.4 earthquake was felt in San Francisco and was the latest of a growing number of quakes in the area. Many scientists believe the quakes are related to the injection of large quantities of waste water into the geothermal field to assist generation of steam used in electric power production. Power production at the Geysers is equivalent to that used by the city of San Francisco.
. . There were few quakes in the vicinity near the Sonoma-Lake-Mendocino counties junction prior to development of the geothermal facility in the 1960s, but there have been hundreds of quakes there since then.
. . The depth of the latest quake was about 2.2 miles below the surface. A reservoir of subterranean magma lies about five miles below the surface, and most of the quakes recorded have been shallow.
Feb 5, 04: Researchers said they had taken another step toward understanding how plants split water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms --which may provide a cheap way to produce clean-burning hydrogen fuel. Producing hydrogen from water is the stuff of science fiction --and some comments by President Bush. Water has always seemed a logical source for hydrogen but the only known feasible method to separate it, electrolysis, costs ten times as much as natural gas, and is three times as expensive as gasoline.
Jan , 04: In hopes of developing a process that could slow global warming, the Energy Department wants to inject the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide underground into depleted oil reservoirs after converting it into a liquid form. The Teapot Dome project, now in the planning stages, could be one of the world's largest test sites for the method. It would store CO2 from a natural gas processing plant more than 300 miles away beneath the 10,000-acre oil field in central Wyoming.
. . It's currently in its preliminary engineering and testing stages. Storage could begin by 2006 and last seven to 10 years. When a reservoir is full, the pipeline is taken out and the hole sealed up. "The objective is to keep it sealed underground forever, hundreds or thousands of years." The site is projected to store at least 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide a year when fully operational. It could eventually lead to large-scale testing in other Rocky Mountain states, the Ohio River Valley, Texas Gulf Coast, California and other areas.
. . The reservoirs that would store the CO2 held oil and methane gas for millions of years. If the project pans out, officials hope to capture CO2 from the nation's power plants, oil and gas refineries and other manufacturing facilities "because that is the CO2 today that is leaking into the atmosphere without any controls on it."
. . One possibility is capturing the gas with scrubbers similar to those attached to smokestacks that remove nitrous oxide and other gases.
. . The storage process —-particularly compressing the CO2-— is expensive. [& the energy used in doing that generates *more CO2! ] Some estimates put it as high as $100 per ton. "Globally, we are releasing 7 billion tons of carbon per year", Nummedal said. "The amount we will be putting away here will be in the hundreds of thousands of tons."
Jan 19, 04: The world's biggest solar power station will be connected to the German electricity grid at the end of July near the eastern city of Leipzig. Germany is the world's second-largest producer of solar energy behind Japan.
. . Made up of 33,500 solar panels, the station at Espenhain will be able to generate about five megawatts, enough electricity for 1,800 homes. "The solar power station will save some 3,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually."
Jan 13, 04: University of Houston physicist David Criswell has had a longstanding, powerful interest in the Moon. Given the potential for robotic and lunar exploration being restarted, utilizing Luna as an energy hub is within reach, he said. Criswell has been formulating the plans and the justification for building bases on Luna to collect solar energy and beam it through space for use by electricity- hungry Earthlings. He is convinced that a Lunar Solar Power (LSP) system can cultivate into being a prosperous world, one that is attainable through clean, safe, low-cost electrical energy.
. . Criswell estimates that by the year 2050, a well- to-do population of 10 billion would require about 20 terawatts of power, or about three to five times the amount of commercial power currently produced.
. . Luna receives more than 13,000 terawatts of solar power, and harnessing just 1% could satisfy Earth's power needs, Criswell said. The challenge is to build a commercial system that can extract a tiny portion of the immense solar power available and deliver the energy to consumers on Earth at a reasonable price.
. . Criswell's lunar-based system to supply solar power to Earth is based on building large banks of solar cells on Lina to collect sunlight and send it back to receivers on Earth via a microwave beam. Within fifteen years, Earth can begin shifting to clean, affordable, and sustainable lunar solar electric power. Criswell said that power beaming from Luna can also open up a new era of deep space exploration.
Jan 9, 04: "Richer, fatter, and not much happier", is how the Worldwatch Institute summed up the findings of its "State of the World 2004" report.
. . US refrigerators swelled by some 10% between 1972 and 2001, it said, while new homes were 38 percent bigger in 2000 than in 1975, even though the average household has fewer people in it.
Dec 30, 03: Plans to add thousands of natural gas wells in the Four Corners region has prompted concern among state and federal agencies about skyrocketing air pollution. The gas industry plans to drill more than 10,000 wells over the next 20 to 30 years in the San Juan Basin, one of the nation's richest repositories of fossil fuel. The basin extends from southern Colorado into New Mexico.
. . Most of the new wells planned in the region will be drilled in the New Mexico portion of the basin, which already has roughly 18,000 gas wells. In the Colorado part of the basin, there are roughly 2,500 gas wells and plans for another 1,000 over the next few decades.
Dec, 03: Record-breaking aviators Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard hope to harness the Sun's power to fly round the world. The pair gained worldwide recognition in 1999 when they became the first to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon. Now they plan to repeat the journey in a solar- powered aeroplane which will have to use batteries to fly at night. A feasibility study has confirmed the viability of the Solar Impulse project and experts are now preparing to design the craft for launch some time in 2006.
. . "The design incorporates a computerised body vest", explains Jones. "If there's stress on part of the wing, the pilot would feel pressure on one side of his body. "Equally, if the pilot is stressed the plane would sense this and only feed him must-know information."
. . "Solving our ecological problems is not simply a case of persuading people to turn off the lights and not keep their VCRs on standby. This may be important but it won't solve the situation. What will solve the situation is technology."
Dec, 03: Guppy06 writes: "The Houston Chronicle has an article about how a 7000-turbine windfarm in Altamont Pass, California (the world's largest collection) has killed an estimated 22,000 birds during the past 20 years or so of operation, 'including hundreds of golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, kestrels and other raptors.' There are efforts to keep the operators from renewing their permit until they take measures to protect bird populations.
. . "To put things in perspective, the article goes on to point out that the Exxon Valdez spill is estimated to have killed around 250,000, while the whole story can just about be summed up by one quote by a biologist: 'When you turn on your lights you kill something, no matter what the source of electricity. Killing 3-4 birds per day doesn't seem too bad. It's a shame that larger, rarer birds are getting killed, but... How many birds would die from the acid rain that a coal power plant would cause?'"
Dec 23, 03: 'bout time! The Bush administration is looking at making larger SUVs, such as the Hummer H2, Ford Excursion and GMC Suburban, and large pickup trucks comply with federal fuel economy standards for the first time.
Dec 22, 03: A Spanish nuclear power station has been shut indefinitely because of a small missing screw weighing just four to five grams that fell off a machine during refuelling, nuclear officials say.
The stupidest of the Stupid Useless Vehicles: the hated Hummer: 7-9 mpg.
Dec 19, 03: Japan is confident it can win approval from an international consortium to build the world's first large- scale nuclear fusion plant, an experimental project.
. . Japan relies on nuclear power for 30% of its energy. But many communities have resisted plans to build more plants since Japan's worst nuclear accident in 1999. That accident, at a fuel-reprocessing plant north of Tokyo, was caused by an uncontrolled reaction that killed two workers and exposed at least 600 people to radiation.
. . The government will have to dig deep to fund the $5.3 billion cost of construction over 10 years and another $6.4 billion for the reactor's equipment and day-to-day operations for 25 years after building is completed. It will also have to pay for the electricity to power the reactor. Once the reactor is running, it should generate some 20 times the energy required to get it started.
. . But Inutake, the fusion researcher, said the technology hasn't yet been refined to the point where it will run at a self-sustaining burn. "Attaining that would be a milestone", he said. "Before building an economical reactor, we need to confirm that we can do it in an experiment. That's why this is so important."
Dec 10, 03: The New York Times reported that sketches showed the new WTC-replacement tower --its signature skyscraper, the "Freedom Tower"-- would be the world's tallest at 541 M (1,776 feet), but only 70 stories would be inhabited. The drawings show a torqued, tapering building with an unoccupied top filled with cables, antennas and electricity-generating windmills.
Oct 5, 03: Toyota Motor Corp showed off the production site of its gasoline-electric hybrid cars to journalists for the first time with a powerful message: they don't have to be expensive to make.
. . Not long ago, many leading auto makers, including the world's biggest, General Motors Corp, questioned the benefit of developing hybrid cars, arguing they are merely an interim solution before zero-emission fuel-cell vehicles take over. They accused --possibly accurately-- Toyota and Honda Motor Co, the only other mass-producer of gas- electric hybrid cars, of selling them at a loss, given the labor-intensive assembly required.
. . There may have been some truth to that argument before, but no longer, says Toyota, which launched its second-generation Prius hybrid sedan in Japan last month. Toyota says the Prius gets 35.5 km per liter of gasoline (over 80 mpg)!
. . GM and Ford Motor Co are still planning to introduce their first hybrid vehicles.
Sept 29, 03: Spain is the world's second-largest producer of wind power after Germany with 4,830 megawatts of installed capacity, nearly 8% of the country's generation capacity. The government projects wind power capacity will nearly triple to 13,000 megawatts by 2011 to help meet demand and reach Kyoto Protocol targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Sept 20, 03: Homes on the Arctic tip of Norway started getting power from the moon on Saturday via a unique subsea power station driven by the rise and fall of the tide. A tidal current in a sea channel near the town of Hammerfest (caused by the gravitational tug of the moon on the earth) started turning the 10-meter blades of a turbine bolted to the seabed to generate electricity for the local grid.
. . The prototype looks like an underwater windmill and is expected to generate about 700,000 kilowatt hours of non-polluting energy a year, or enough to light and heat about 30 homes.
. . "This is the first time in the world that electricity from a tidal current has been fed into a power grid." It had cost about $11 million by the launch --a tiny contributor to help cut dependence on fossil fuels like oil and gas blamed for global warming.
. . The water flows at about 2.5 meters (8 ft) per second for about 12 hours when the tide is rising through the Kvalsund channel, pauses at high tide and then reverses direction. The blades on the turbine automatically turn to face the current. Such barrages can disrupt the habitats of animals and plants in river estuaries and along the coasts.
. . Proponents of turbines turned by tidal currents say that they cause less impact --they are silent and invisible from the surface and fish, whales and seals can probably swim round them without the risk of being sliced up.
. . And maintenance -- with divers having to go down to the seabed -- could be tricky. Other subsea experiments to generate power from tidal currents from Australia to Britain have not got to the stage of feeding power into the grid.
Sept 8, 03: The atmospheric effects of hydrogen are similar to those produced by chloroflurocarbons, or CFCs, which have been used as refrigerants and aerosol propellants. "It is impossible to manufacture, store and transport hydrogen without at least some fractional loss (to the atmosphere)" because hydrogen molecules are so small and lightweight that they are tough to contain."
Sept 7, 03: In a Pentagon-backed project, University of Massachusetts researchers developed a new battery. Its source is an underground bacterium that gobbles up sugar and converts its energy into electricity. Their prototype device ran flawlessly without refuelling for up to 25 days and is cheap and stable.
. . Microbial fuel cells are not new, but until now they have run into big problems of cost and energy efficiency. Typically, they yield efficiency of "10% or less."
. . Its energy efficiency is an extraordinary 83 percent, which implies that, if engineering obstacles can be overcome and manufacturing techniques devised, it could one day be as compact as household batteries. It worked not only with glucose but also with the fruit sugar fructose, with sucrose (found in sugar cane and sugar beet) and even xylose, a sugary byproduct of wood and straw. In addition, the bacterium is rugged and stable, able to grow at temperatures ranging from four to 30 C (39.2 to 86 F), with 25 C (77 F) the optimum.
. . And, for people living in poor, remote communities, it should be possible to adapt the electrodes so that they used carbohydrate waste from farm animals or sewage to power batteries for running fridges and stoves.
Toyota's fabulous new hybrid gasoline-electric Prius sedan uses electrically operated power steering and sensors that help guide the car when reversing into parking spaces. Toyota President Fujio Cho sat in the driver's seat at a demonstration laid on for the press, surprising reporters by holding his hands up as the car quickly parked itself. The intelligent park assist system is offered as an option, at an additional cost.
. . General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co will launch their first hybrids later this year.
Aug 30, 03: The Denver-based Fuelcell Propulsion Institute plans to convert a 120-ton diesel locomotive into a fuel- cell-driven train, a project that could one day make fuel cells a reality for subways. "Subway systems running on the grid is obviously a precarious proposition", said Arnold Miller, spokesman for the five-year project.Miller said another participant in the project, Texas-based BNSF Railway company, spends $1 billion a year in diesel costs for its heavy freight rail. He said fuel cells could eventually lower that bill by 20%.
. . Earlier this month, some 350,000 people were trapped for up to three hours in the New York City subway system.
AUG 24, 03: 3M Co. and other manufacturers have developed high-capacity overhead power lines made of an aluminum- zirconium composite. The wires, which are already being manufactured for sale, can ferry two to three times as much power as current cable
. . Intermagnetics General Corp. of Albany, N.Y., has developed a superconducting cable made of strands of ceramic-coated tape. Like underground electric cables, the ceramic cables have a liquid core that carries a coolant. But instead of filling them with oil, the cables are cooled by 300-degrees-below-zero liquid nitrogen.
. . Other grid-boosting solutions include software and switches to steer power around bottlenecks and onto less crowded wires, and line sensors that transmit the temperature and wind data to the utility control room, telling computers to reduce a load when a wind stops cooling a power line, for example
. . Investors are also looking into stringing more high-voltage power lines ferrying direct current —-such as the type of power in batteries-— rather than the usual alternating current. The lines are cheaper, and can share rights of way with AC lines. The cables can be engorged with far more power, and it can be turned on and off like a water spigot, making billing more accurate.
July 13, 03: Britain is pushing ahead with a huge expansion of offshore wind farms which could supply green power to more than three million households and create 20,000 new jobs.
. . Some 'farms are likely to be 10 times the size of the first scheme, now under construction in Wales. "The first wind farm has 30 turbines. Developers are saying they want to build much, much larger offshore wind farms --up to 300 turbines." That's 6,000 megawatts.
. . It's key to meeting its target of providing 10 percent of Britain's power from green sources by 2010, up from 3% at present. A recent study commissioned by the government showed offshore wind could supply between four and 7% of the UK's power by 2010.
July 10, 03: A sharp rise in natural gas prices and an unusually low stockpile of the fuel has grabbed the attention of the Bush administration and lawmakers. Natural gas prices in the wholesale spot market recently doubled from a year ago, rising to about $6 per million Btu. A cold winter drained inventories to a record low earlier this year, but the stockpile has steadily grown during the past month and is now only about 15% below normal.
. . Greenspan called for a "major expansion" of facilities to import liquefied natural gas. LNG is natural gas cooled to -161 degrees C, which converts it to liquid form for shipment. Algeria, Nigeria, Trinidad, Russia and Venezuela are among current and potential exporters of LNG to the United States.
July 3, 03: New fuel-cell tech: A lot of the cost of fuel cell technology goes toward buying the platinum to prepare the catalyst. Typically, platinum or gold account for up to 10% of the weight of the catalyst. But researchers found that after stripping the precious metal with a cyanide solution, the catalyst was just as active with a slight amount of the precious metal remaining.
June 18, 03: Energy pioneers have launched the world's first offshore tidal energy turbine off the English coast. The £3m turbine has been built into the seabed about a kilometer and a half offshore. The single 11 meter-long rotor blade will be capable of producing 300 kilowatts and will be a test-bed for further tidal turbines. It is hoped to convert the system to twin rotors by the end of next year. Research suggests they have the potential to be four times more efficient than wind turbines of a similar size. They are less obtrusive; the structure is built on the seabed, on an 80-ton tubular steel pile, and projects just a few meters above the surface. There is no danger to fish because the blades rotate quite slowly --about 20 rpm.
. . "We estimate that there is at least 10 gigawatts of power available from tidal power in the UK. That's the same as about half of the existing nuclear industry." 2% and possibly more of our electricity demand could come from tidal stream.
. . Several experimental devices working on similar principles have been built before, but the turbine unveiled in Devon is the first such permanent installation in the world to generate electricity. If it performs as expected, they hope to build a whole set of turbines in the area --a tidal farm. "That would form a major part of the government's aspiration that 20% of our electricity supply should come from renewable resources by 2020."
June 12, 03: Denmark, a pioneer of wind energy, saw its sales of wind turbines rise by 7% in 2002, solidifying the country's position as the world's leading maker of wind turbines. Denmark was the first country to use wind energy for electricity production, and now accounts for half of the world's total production.
. . Wind power has since grown to cover 15% of Denmark's electricity needs last year, a figure expected to reach 17% this year. In 2002, Danish turbines, including those used domestically and sold abroad, averaged 1.2 megawatts (MW) per unit, surpassing the one MW mark for the first time.
. . The increase in sales last year represented a rise in wind power of 5%, for a total of 3,614 new megawatts (MW) or around 50% of the world's total turbine production of around 6,868 MW.
June 12, 03: Widespread use of the hydrogen fuel cells that President Bush has made a centerpiece of his energy plan might not be as environmentally friendly as many believe. Scientists say the new technology could lead to greater destruction of the ozone layer that protects Earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. Researchers issued a report saying that if hydrogen replaced fossil fuels to run everything from cars to power plants, large amounts of hydrogen would drift into the stratosphere as a result of leakage and indirectly cause increased depletion of the ozone.
. . Because hydrogen readily travels skyward, the researchers estimated that its increased use could lead to as much as a tripling of hydrogen molecules —-both manmade and from natural sources-— going into the stratosphere, where it would oxidize and form water. "This would result in cooling of the lower stratosphere and the disturbance of ozone chemistry", the researchers wrote, resulting in bigger and longer-lasting ozone holes in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where drops in ozone levels have been recorded over the past 20 years. They estimated that ozone depletion could be as much as 8%.
. . Much of the leaking hydrogen might become absorbed in the soil instead of drifting into the sky, he said. "If soils dominate, a hydrogen economy might have little effect on the environment. But if the atmosphere is the big player, the stratospheric cooling and destruction of the ozone ... are more likely to occur." "In the past ... we always found out that there a were problems long after (chemicals or fuels) were long in use", said Eiler. He cited the case of CFCs, long considered benign but later found to destroy the ozone layer; and carbon dioxide, which for years was viewed as having few consequences when released from burning fossil fuels, but now is the principal "greenhouse" gas.
June 1, 03: The damming of China's Three Gorges, the biggest water control project ever accomplished in the world, remains clouded in controversy as its reservoir begins to fill. It'll produce 84.7 billion kilowatt hours annually, beginning from 2009.
. . Already, the builders of the dam are looking to other projects --the Three Gorges Project Development Corporation announced this week plans for four more dams in Jinshajiang, higher up on the Yangtze, over the next 20 years. Together, these projects will produce twice the electricity of the Three Gorges dam, but Dai Qing said that energy conservation is a better solution to China's energy problems and that she will continue his battle against power-generating dams.
A 675 kilowatt solar electric system will be placed atop San Francisco's Moscone Center.
Nanosys' novel nanocomposite photovoltaic technology combines precisely engineered inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals with a light-weight, flexible host-matrix to generate solar cells that combine the conversion efficiency, environmental stability and device lifetimes of inorganic solar-cells with the light-weight, flexibility, low-cost and volume-manufacturing capabilities of plastics. The result is a technology capable of generating solar power at less than $1 per Watt. These photovoltaic cells are fabricated using low-cost roll-to-roll processing that can produce standalone sheets or can be directly incorporated onto the surface of other structures.
Apr 6, 03: In 2002, Denmark's three companies sold turbines with a combined force of 2,880 megawatts (MW), which compares with the world's total production of 6,868 MW. Wind energy is one of the few energy sources seeing a spectacular increase in capacity, around 25% annually over the past few years.
. . Of the tens of thousands of wind turbines in the world, totalling an output of 32,000 MW, some 75 to 80% are to be found in Europe, and 45% were supplied by Danish companies. Denmark holds the world record for use of wind energy. In 2002, wind turbines met 13.9% of the country's total energy needs, up from 12.2% in 2001, even after 850 outdated turbines, of a total 6,300, were dismantled. This means Denmark is already way ahead of the government's own target of covering 10% of the country's energy needs with wind by 2005, 20% by 2015 and 50% by 2030. [So the 2005 goal was surpassed in 2001!]
. . There is a potential to install turbines of 100,000 MW off the European coastline where the sea is more than 20 meters deep, especially in the Baltic and the North Sea. This represents four times the capacity currently available on land in Europe, and a solution for Europe's densely populated countries which have little land space for turbines. However, because of the high costs of running an offshore park, this will become profitable only with the next generation of turbines, and so only 10 to 15% of turbines will be offshore in the next five years, Madsen said.
Mar 6, 03: Hybrid cars, which combine electric motors with small petroleum engines, will outpace the environmental benefits of hydrogen fuel cell cars until at least 2020, according to a university study. Even with aggressive research, a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle would not be better than a diesel hybrid in terms of total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, the study said.
. . That's because virtually all industrial hydrogen supply at the moment comes from natural gas. In the future, analysts say, large amounts of hydrogen will be separated from water, where it bonds with oxygen, through the use of alternative energies like wind and solar power. But for now, the green method of making hydrogen is too expensive, according to the study.
Mar 5, 03: Egyptian scientists believe an oil commonly used in cosmetic products could be a viable alternative to diesel fuel to power cars and trucks. Researchers at Helwan University in Cairo and the United Arab Emirates University have tested jojoba oil in engines and say that not only does it work as well as diesel, but the engines spew out fewer pollutants.
. . The head of the research team thinks it has potential as an alternative fuel because it contains less carbon than diesel. producing sufficient amounts of jojoba oil to use as an alternative fuel could be a problem. Farmers in Egypt are already planting jojoba shrubs with the idea of providing the oil for fuel. Until now, the oil derived from the nut of the jojoba, a desert shrub, has been used in facial and hair products and as a base for make-up.
Feb 10, 03: Proponents of a C$4 billion pipeline to tap Arctic Canada's vast natural gas reserves may announce within days they will proceed with the project.
Natural gas is not environmentally benign; it emits greenhouse gases, and exploration and drilling often prove controversial. But CNG engines emit virtually no particulate matter, toxic chemicals, or sulfur and 50 percent less NOx. What's more, 85% of natural gas consumed in the United States is produced domestically; nearly all the rest is from Canada. The 130,000 CNG vehicles on U.S. roads last year displaced 124 million gallons of gasoline, and the sector is growing 10% a year. Natural gas passenger cars and pickup trucks are now available.
. . Ethanol. Corn alcohol hasn't exactly lived up to its promise. The 2.13 billion gallons of ethanol produced last year, up 20% from the previous year, still amounted to less than 2.6% of U.S. oil imports. More accurately called an additive than a replacement fuel, ethanol is typically mixed with 90% petroleum; an oxygenate, it boosts combustion and reduces tailpipe emissions.
. . But ethanol's green image has faded of late. Diesel tractors plant, fertilize, and harvest the corn used to make ethanol, and substantial coal-fired electricity is used to process the grain. Cornell University scientist David Pimentel, author of a study showing ethanol consumes more energy than it produces, calls it "unsustainable, subsidized food burning." Federal and state governments spend about $1 billion a year to support ethanol, most of which goes to agribusiness giants like Archer Daniels Midland, which owns 35% of the market.
. . Cellulosic, or biomass, ethanol would require less energy to produce and could be manufactured from material that is now burned or buried. Getting biomass ethanol from the laboratory to the highway has been slow.
. . The Sierra Club calculates that if the vehicle fuel economy average of 20.8 mpg were raised to 40 mpg, it would save upwards of 3 million barrels of oil a day! Largely because of the popularity of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, the average fuel economy of the 2003 fleet of cars sank 6% below the peak set 15 years ago.
Feb 5, 03: A tantalizing possibility for limitless clean electricity --nuclear fusion-- inched closer to reality last week when the Bush administration said the United States will rejoin efforts to build the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. Canada, Japan, France, and Spain are all bidding to host the reactor, which could be functioning by 2014. After that, it would be at least 25 years before fusion energy is on the power grid. [...exactly the same thing I read 45 years ago! JKH]
Star Trek anti-matter power? Not soon!
Anti-particle particle annihilation is about ten billion times that of chemical combustion. The power we use now to make antimatter is close to a billion times more than we can produce with it!
. . Antimatter is the most expensive substance on Earth, about $62.5 trillion a gram. They could eventually bring the price down to about $5 million per gram.
Jan 13, 03: High-efficiency refrigeration? A new magnetic alloy responds to changing temperatures when placed in a magnetic field. Instead of a refrigerator using a compressor and Freon, it would use the metal alloys and magnetism. The alloy is made from three metals that are very reactive and stretch the limits of most crucibles when melted. With a new furnace design, the lab can make easy work of melting all three.
. . Bars of metal are pushed into the 30-by-50-foot [FEET?!! I'd think Centimeters!] chamber as a plasma torch, supplied with helium and argon, heats and melts them. A copper mold, cooled through a water system, catches the molten metal. The system eliminates the need for other metal molds, or crucibles, to hold the bars as they're heated.
Jan 3, 03: MELBOURNE. The world's tallest man-made structure could soon tower over the Australian outback as part of a plan to capitalize on the global push for greater use of renewable energy. By 2006, Australian power company EnviroMission Ltd hopes to build a 1,000 meter solar tower in southwest New South Wales state, a structure that would be more than twice the height of Malaysia's Petronas Towers, the world's tallest buildings. Currently, the world's tallest free-standing structure is the Canadian National Tower in Toronto at 553 meters.
. . The 200 megawatt solar tower, which will cost A$ 1 billion ($563 million) to build, will be of a similar width to a football field and will stand in the center of a massive glass roof spanning 7 km. Despite its size, the technology is simple --the sun heats air under the glass roof, which slopes upwards from three meters at its outer perimeter to 25 meters at the tower base. As the hot air rises, a powerful updraft is also created by the tower that allows air to be continually sucked through 32 turbines, generating power 24 hours a day.
. . EnviroMission hopes to begin construction on the solar tower before the end of the year and be generating enough electricity to supply 200,000 homes around the beginning of 2006. The company also hopes the project will save more than 700,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year that would have been emitted through coal or oil-fired power stations.
. . Time Magazine recently voted the solar tower among the "Best Inventions of the Year." It's received the support of the Australian and New South Wales governments, which have defined it as a project of national significance.
. . EnviroMission plans to build the tower in remote Buronga district in New South Wales, near the border of Victoria state.
. . It will generate about 650 gigawatt-hours (GWh) a year toward Australia's mandated renewable energy target, which requires electricity retailers to supply 9,500 GWh of renewable energy a year by 2010.
. . The Electricity Supply Association has said $48(A) billion needs to be invested in electricity infrastructure during the next two decades to meet the country's growing demand. Davey said he is keen to keep the tower's costs as low as possible to ensure its success. "We have proved that it does work and that it can be built, but what we have got to get a handle on is the cost and we are working very strongly through that now."
. . The tower --originally known as the solar chimney-- is the invention of German structural engineers Schlaich Bergerman, who constructed a 200 meter high demonstration power plant in Manzanares, Spain, in 1982. The 50 kilowatt plant produced electricity for seven years, then closed down after having proved the technology worked.
Electric lighting accounts for 25% of all energy produced in this country. Southern California Edison believes that their Christmas load is 1,400 MW in its territory alone.
. . In Los Angeles, it is estimated Christmas lighting uses 1500 megawatts of electric generating capacity at peak usage. This is the equivalent of a generating station of the capacity of the Laramie River Station, near Wheatland, Wyoming. LRS burns a little over seven million tons of Wyoming coal each year.
. . A standard 100-mini-bulb string might set you back 70 cents a month.
. . Assume that 15% of all U.S. households use holiday lights, and that each house uses 10 50-watt strings; that's about 500 watts of demand. Compound that across a string-strangled nation, and you're looking at 4,932 Megawatts (MW) of power (~5 BILLION watts!). With the average nuclear power plant running to 1,000 MW, "almost five nuclear power plants are required just to deck your halls."
. . "Based on average power plant emission rates as reported by the Department of Energy, the use of Christmas lights for six hours a day over a 45-day holiday season results in about 885,000 tons of CO2, 4,800 tons of SO2, and 2,800 tons of smog. Merry Christmas!"
The initial cost of setting up a solar unit for an average American home is roughly $8,000 to $9,000 before property exemptions and incentives.
Nov 20, 02: The United States will become more dependent on crude oil and natural gas imports to meet its energy needs over the next two decades, the government forecast.
. . U.S. crude oil imports are expected to soar to 68 percent of domestic daily demand in 2025, up from the current 55%, while natural gas imports will jump to 22% of daily demand from this year's 16%, according to the Energy Information Administration.
. . The Energy Department's analytical arm released it's annual forecast for future U.S. energy use, with this year's predictions going out to the year 2025 for the first time.
. . Natural gas demand is expected to increase 54 percent over the next two decades to 35 trillion cubic feet in 2025 from the current 23 trillion cubic feet a year, primarily to fuel new power plants.
. . Growth in natural gas demand depends on more natural gas production in the Rocky Mountain region and construction of an Alaskan pipeline to deliver gas supplies to the lower 48 states, EIA said.
. . Total U.S. gas production is forecast to increase to 26.8 trillion cubic feet by 2025 from the current 19.2 trillion cubic feet.
. . While the share of electricity generated with natural gas is projected to increase to 29% in 2025 from the current 17%, coal remains the primary fuel for electricity generation. The coal share is projected to decline from 52% to a still dominant 48% in 2025.
. . Separately, U.S. oil demand is forecast to jump from 19.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to 29.2 million bpd in 2025, led by growth in the transportation sector that will account for 75% of petroleum demand.
. . Domestic crude oil production is expected to fall to 5.3 million bpd by 2025, declining at an average annual rate of 0.4%.
. . OPEC will continue to supply the U.S. with crude, as the cartel's oil production more than doubles to 60.1 million bpd from the current 28 million bpd, EIA said.
. . Non-OPEC production is expected to increase from 46 million bpd to almost 59 million bpd, with higher output from Russia, the Caspian Sea region, Africa and South and Central America.
. . World oil demand is seen rising to 119 million bpd in 2025 from the current 76 million bpd.

Other EIA forecast highlights include:

. . * The oil price is projected to jump from $22.01 a barrel in 2001 dollars to $26.57 (inflation-adjusted) by 2025, largely because of higher world oil demand. In actual dollars, the average world oil price reaches $48 per barrel in 2025.
. . * Average natural gas prices will fall from last year's $4.12 per thousand cubic feet to $3.90 in inflation- adjusted dollars by 2025, and $7 in actual dollars.
. . * The amount of electricity generated from renewable sources like wind and solar will increase 2.1 percent a year.
. . * Nuclear generating capacity will increase slightly by 2025, but no new plants are expected to be built.
. . * Carbon dioxide emissions from energy use will increase to 2,237 million metric tons by 2025 from 1,559 million, an average annual increase of 1.5%.
. . * The energy intensity of the U.S. economy, measured as energy used per dollar of GDP (news - web sites), is projected to decline at an average annual rate of 1.5% through 2025, as continued efficiency gains and structural shifts in the economy offset growth in the demand for energy services.

The UK government has set itself a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 23% on 1990 levels by 2010, well above its commitments under the U.N. Kyoto Protocol.
Canada jockeys with Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and non-OPEC Mexico as top oil exporter to the United States, providing about 7% of the 20 million bpd (barrel/day) market, the world's thirstiest.
Incandescent bulbs in traffic lights have to be replaced annually, but LEDs should last five to 10 years. LEDs also use 80 to 90% less electricity than the conventional stop-lights they replace. Collectively, the new lights save at least 400 million kilowatt-hours a year in the United States --and that rises as new ones replace the incandescents.
. . Incandescents are so inefficient: 95% of the electricity they consume is converted into infrared rays that we experience as heat, not light. They produce 15 lumens -—a measure of light output—- for each watt of electrical power. Fluorescent bulbs do a lot better, emitting 50 to 100 lumens per watt. Compact, white-light LEDs are improving quickly and should reach 75 lumens per watt by 2007.
Nov 3, 02: In a novel use of clean energy, the world's most northerly town will soon be the first to get electricity from a sub-sea power station run on tidal currents tugged by the moon. From late November or early December, however, a tidal current will start turning the blades of a windmill-like turbine standing on the seabed near Kvalsund at the Arctic tip of Norway. "We will be the first in the world to use tidal currents to generate electricity to be fed into the local grid", Harald Johansen, managing director of Hammerfest Stroem, told Reuters.
. . Other unorthodox sub sea experiments to generate power from tidal currents from Australia to Britain have not got to the stage of selling power. Tides have previously been tapped for use in power plants in France, Canada and Russia by building barrages to trap water in artificial lagoons at high tide. But giant damming projects are out of fashion because they can damage the ecology of rivers and coastlines. Seabed turbines, by contrast, are silent and invisible and fish can swim round them without getting sliced up.
. . "Of all the renewable energy technologies, ocean energy is probably the one in the earliest stages", said Mark Hammonds at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris. "Many projects have proved to be too costly."
. . The Norwegian sub sea turbine will have a tiny capacity of 300 KW and is due to expand to 20 mills from 2004, giving enough power for perhaps 1,000 homes. Western- style nuclear generators typically have a capacity of 500 to 1,000 MW.
. . Hammerfest, with 11,000 inhabitants, calls itself the world's northernmost town. Johansen reckons the project there has cost $6.7 million so far and will cost 100 million by completion in 2004.
. . The biggest tidal power plant in the world is a dam across the La Rance river in northern France, in place since the 1960s. It has a 240 MW capacity, but Electricite de France has no plans to build new ones. Canada's Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world, at about 39 feet. Nova Scotia Power's 20 MW plant at Annapolis Royal, built in 1984, is the only one in North America, but the company is now focusing more on wind.
. . In Kvalsund, the water flows at about 2.5 meters per second apart from a pause at high and low tides. By contrast, windmills are useless in calm weather and have to be built to withstand hurricane force winds. Solar power is a non-starter in winter in Hammerfest where the sun sets for about two months in mid-winter.
. . The tidal turbines weigh about 200 tons including the base and are well below the keels of passing ships. They turn to face the tide when the currents change direction.
. . British-based Marine Current Turbines, which plans to test a similar tidal current system off Devon in southern England next year, says that maintenance could be a problem for Hammerfest. "When you have strong enough currents for tidal energy generation there are few slack tides when divers can work."
. . Marine Current Turbines' design, which sticks above the water, allows the turbines to be winched up to the surface. "The size of this resource is not understood", he said. He said that a British study a decade ago estimated that the eight most promising sites off the British coast alone could generate a fifth of Britain's electricity.
Oct 9, 02: Food scraps once consigned to the compost heap - -or the dog-- could soon power a cheap bacteeria-driven battery, if scientists have their way. Researchers at the University of the West of England have developed a microbial fuel cell about the size of a mobile phone that could be powered by organic household waste. "Right now, their fuel cell runs only on sugar cubes, since these produce almost no waste when broken down, but they aim to move on to carrot power", New Scientist magazine said.
. . Chris Melhuish and his team are using the cell to run a small light-sensitive robot but they said when a series of the cells are connected they could run domestic appliances.
. . The bacteria-driven cell, which would cost about 10 pounds, directly converts biochemical energy into electricity. It uses E.coli bacteria to break down carbohydrates and release hydrogen atoms. The cell also contains chemicals that drive a series of redox, reduction and oxidation reactions, stripping electrons from the hydrogen atoms and delivering them steadily to the fuel cell's anode. This creates a voltage that can be used to power a circuit.
About 25% of all natural gas produced in the United States comes from the Gulf.
The output of manure from one cow can produce roughly three hundred watts. 100K cows = a MEGAwatt. Ten million cows = 100 MegaWatts! . There's 9.3 million in U.S. (1/6 in Cal alone. Average herd there: 692)
Aug 16, 02: Fossil fuels --used for everything from keeping us warm to powering space rockets-- could have formed from minerals instead of plant and animal remains as generally believed, say U.S. and Russian scientists. The team of geologists argue that petroleum originated from minerals at extreme temperatures and pressures. They have mimicked conditions more than 100 kilometers below the surface by heating minerals containing carbon at around 1,500 degrees celsius and 50,000 times atmospheric pressure. "Experiments to demonstrate the high-pressure genesis of petroleum hydrocarbons have been carried out using only 99.9% pure solid iron oxide, and marble...with triple distilled water", their report said. This produced various hydrocarbons, including methane, the main constituent of natural gas; and octane, the hydrocarbon molecule that is the basis for gasoline.
. . "It periodically comes up as an issue -- it's a possibility that some hydrocarbons formed inorganically", said Lidia Lonergan, a petroleum geologist.Geologists say that there is overwhelming chemical and biological evidence that fossil fuels are composed of animal and plants, or organic matter. These chemical signs are also used to find oil. A mathematical model of the researchers' process suggests that none of the ingredients of a mineral-based fossil fuel other than methane could form at depths of less than 100 kilometers, whereas petroleum is found at much shallower levels.
Aug 6, 02: Measured from cornfield to the fuel tank, ethanol provides more energy than is consumed in producing it, researchers said in a new report that could figure in congressional debate over U.S. energy policy. House and Senate negotiators hope to agree by mid- September on a compromise energy bill that may include a renewable fuels standard that could triple sales of ethanol to 5 billion gallons annually by the end of the decade.
. . A record 1.77 billion gallons of the corn-based fuel was distilled last year. Ethanol arose in the 1970s as a home-grown response to fuel embargoes of the 1970s and an outlet for surplus crops. In recent years, it has been used to raise the octane level of motor fuels and produce cleaner-burning fuels.
. . A Cornell University researcher last year calculated a loss of 33,562 British thermal units for every gallon of ethanol produced. In a new study, published last week by the U.S. Agriculture Department, researchers found a net energy gain of 21,105 BTU per gallon. A gallon of gasoline contains 125,070 BTU.
. . If co-products were not considered, ethanol would have a net energy value of 1.08, the new study said.
Boeing calculates that a BWB (Blended Wing Body) seating 480 passengers would use 32% less fuel than the proposed A380-700 from Airbus. The accommodation section in a normal plane, the tubular fuselage, is a burden that generates extra drag --so the BWB does not have one. It would basically be a wing with a belly that would accommodate the passengers and freight.
. . The plane would weigh 19% less, suggesting that it would cost less to build. And it would need 19 percent less thrust, saving on engine manufacturing and maintenance costs. Needing less thrust, the aircraft would emit less pollution. And it would a lot be quieter. Its shape could also give it a little more speed than normal jet airliners have.
. . It also has one potentially serious drawback: almost no passenger would have a window. The accommodation section would be wide, rather than long, with passengers sitting in a series of side-by-side rooms largely sealed off from the outside. The obvious answer is to fit big television screens showing what is going on outside, making every seat a window seat.Some engineers and industry analysts think even that would be unnecessary. Passengers sitting in the middle seats of current wide-body airliners already have little view of the outside.
April 16th, 2002: Volkswagen introduced a prototype of the world's most economical car licensed for road use. "The 1- Liter" Car gets 239-285 mpg fuel economy, or 100+ km per 1- liter of fuel burned (not a 1-liter engine). It is aerodynamically shaped, and weighs just 290 kg (comparable to a lightweight motorcycle with 1/10th the air resistance), so that an 8.5 horsepower engine gives lively acceleration and agile performance. In its debut testdrive on the Autobahn in Germany, it covered 230 km on just 2.1 liters of diesel, at an average speed of 75 km/hr (46.6 mph), and a top speed of 120 km/hr (72 mph). With a 6.6- liter fuel tank, it can travel 650 km (390 miles) on a single tank of fuel.
. . The car incorporates regenerative braking, which uses the alternator during braking to charge an onboard nickel-metal hydride battery. Because of the highly aerodynamic shape and the low-rolling-resistance tires, the engine is designed to use intermittent power technology, automatically turning off when reaching cruise speed, and allowing the car to coast until speed drops a few miles per hour before re-activating. This saves enormously on fuel.
. . An "aeronautical" driver's cabin where the pilot and passenger are in tandem helps achieve a drag coefficient of a phenomenal 0.159! The body panels are of carbon fiber over a magnesium space frame, a very compact six-speed automatic transmission controlled by a switch, low consumption electrical equipment, a bi-xeno headlight, led-lights, and special low resistance rings and tires.. A 299cc monobloc single-cylinder direct-injection diesel (no turbocharger), and aluminium construction throughout. The power output is a measly 8.5 hp at 4000 rpm, but the whole mid-engined car weighs only 290kg.
June 28, 02: U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions that are linked to global warming fell by 1.1% last year, the first drop in a decade, because of a manufacturing slowdown and warm weather, the government said. The drop in emissions was due to the slowing U.S. economy, which grew only 1.2% in 2001, and warm winter weather that reduced demand for heating fuel, rather than to voluntary efforts pushed by the Bush administration to get U.S. companies to act on their own to cut heat- trapping emissions.
June 19, 02: Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chairman of a House energy subcommittee, is among those who are optimistic that ANWR still has a chance. "The world is going to peak in oil production in 2007. The question is not if we are going to drill in ANWR, the question is when", he told reporters on Capitol Hill.
June, 02: . 55% of American homes use gas for heating or cooking. While more than half of U.S. oil comes in ships from foreign producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, it's much tougher to import natural gas, which has to be cooled to minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit and transported in special tankers to a handful of special terminals.
. . In Wyoming, the nearly 5-mile-deep bedrock holds one of the most prolific gas fields in the USA. But the wells produce 126,000 parts per million (1.26%) of hydrogen sulfide, which can quickly kill you in concentrations of as little as 500-1,000 parts per million. Burlington and its partners built a $480 million processing plant to strip out the hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.
. . All the relatively easy gas-producing areas have long been picked over. Most of what's left are tough and expensive fields. The just-drilled Bighorn 8-35 here went to 25,018 feet and will cost about $35 million. It took the largest operating land-drilling rig in the USA — the mammoth, 200-foot-tall, 7,200-horsepower Grey Wolf 558 — to make the hole. {How much fuel did that take?! & count the fuel that made all the equipment used in the operation!]
. . Though the Madden Field has just five producing wells out of the tens of thousands of gas wells in the USA, it produces almost 0.5% of the entire U.S. gas output. Each well can output a net of about 30 million cubic feet of gas a day. But despite that effort, gas production barely budged. From 18.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 1999, domestic gas production crept up to 19.4 Tcf in 2001 — a 3% increase. "What in the world explains why you had to double gas well completions just to stay flat?"
. . Analysts are alarmed by the fact that gas wells peter out much more quickly now than they used to, thanks to technology that lets producers drain reservoirs more quickly and the fact that reservoirs tend to be smaller. Alan Greenspan fretted about this phenomenon in a November 2001 speech, noting that new wells now give up 50% of their recoverable reserves in the first year of operation vs. 25% in the 1980s.
. . Lower 48 U.S. crude oil production, which peaked in 1969 at more than 9 million barrels a day, has now fallen to less than 4 million barrels a day. Add a recovering economy, the chance of a hot summer or a cold winter, and the fact that strapped electrical utilities have turned to gas-fired plants to add enormous generating capacity that will compete for gas supplies, and pessimists see a serious gas crunch coming.
June 15, 02: Volkswagen has a prototype diesel car which uses just one gallon of fuel to go more than 230 miles. In western Europe, diesel engines now account for about 36 percent of the new car market, & is expected to rise to about 50% by 2005-6.
If we upgraded every refrigerator in the U.S., we would save one billion gallons of oil every month. Over the 15- year lifetime, the more expensive refrigerator might save $750!
http://www.ire.ubc.ca/ecoresearch/ecoftpr.html
The ecological footprint of the average Canadian adds up to 4.8 hectares. This is the total amount of land required for food, housing, transport, consumer goods and services. Energy is a large component of the footprint: some 2.9 hectares are necessary for the long term provision of a biological substitute for fossil fuels. The second largest component at 1.1 hectare is agriculture for food supply and consumer goods. Forestry takes up 0.6 hectare to supply the fibre for housing and consumer goods. Finally, the built environment takes up 0.2 hectares for housing and transport.

Can everybody on earth live like the average North- American today?
. . No. In fact, if everyone on earth lived like the average North American, it would require at least three earths to provide all the material and energy she or he currently uses. Preliminary estimates show that the ecological footprint of today's consumption in food, forestry products and fossil fuels alone might already exceed global carrying capacity by roughly 30%. About 3/4 of the current consumption goes to the 1.1 billion people who live in affluence, while 1/4 of the consumption remains for the other 4.6 billion people. This demonstrates the ethical implications of the sustainability dilemma and questions economic expansionism as a remedy for poverty.

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found that TVs, VCRs, set-top boxes, and other appliances in the home video network use more energy annually while switched off than they use while on.
. . Someone tried --& failed-- to persuade Underwriters Laboratories to restrict the words "off" and "power" to switches that cut standby losses to below 1 watt.
Early June , 02: Iceland, with its steaming geothermal power stations, already knows plenty about alternative energy. Now this island of lava on the edge of the Arctic plans to become the world's first society to ditch fossil fuels entirely, relying instead on hydrogen made using the power of its roaring rivers and volcanoes. It may become the "Kuwait of the North" as an exporter of the new, green fuel to markets in Europe.
. . In the relatively near future, Iceland's cars, buses and ships will be driven by electric motors powered by hydrogen-fuel cells that produce nothing but water in their exhausts. Converting all the country's 180,000 vehicles and 2,500 fishing trawlers to hydrogen won't happen overnight -- Iceland is giving itself 30-40 years to kick the oil habit completely. The technology of fuel cells has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years.
. . Iceland's tiny population of 280,000 faces a paradox -- its large fishing fleet and energy-intensive metal smelting industry make it one of the world's largest per-head producers of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Iceland has so far tapped only 15% of its hydro and geothermal reserves. Last week, it announced the start of formal talks with Alcoa on construction of a new 320,000 metric ton smelter that would double aluminum production.
. . Running tankers full of liquid hydrogen from Iceland to markets in Europe is one option, or store hydrogen in methanol, which could be synthesized using carbon dioxide emitted by the metals industry. That's only an interim solution, since burning the methanol would still release some CO2.
May 24, 02: Finland decided today to build the first new nuclear reactor in Western Europe in more than a decade to meet rising energy demands despite bitter opposition from environmentalists. Parliament backed by 107 votes to 92 the coalition government's controversial proposal to construct a fifth atomic reactor to guarantee long-term energy supplies, cut its dependence on Russia and meet greenhouse gas targets. The Green Party said it may quit the ruling coalition following the vote, but Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen does not need its support to survive.
. . It will be the first such plant since 1991 when France authorized the construction of a new reactor.
At the Portland Ore. sewage treatment plant on the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, the city is generating electricity from only the third commercial fuel cell of its kind in the nation to use waste "biogas."
. . The fuel cell began operating in July 1999. It's such a success that the Environmental Protection Agency gave the city a "clean air excellence" award for converting waste gas from sewage into 200 kilowatts of electricity.
. . David Tooze, energy program manager for Portland, said the city needed to pull together several grants to cover the $1.3 million cost. But it has proved to be more than worth it, as it produces electricity at 8 cents per kilowatt-hour, at a time when the deregulated spot market easily pushes the price to 20 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Canada has about half of North America's renewable freshwater resources, but 60% of its water flows north, whereas 90% of its population lives in the southern 100 kilo of the country.

Canada supplies about 16% of the natural gas used in the United States, over half of Canada's total production.

Jan 8, 02: Japan produces 504 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year. Nuclear fission reactors already supply 13% of it. Japan is the second largest "Greenhouse Gas" producer among the G-7 circle of the world's most advanced economies.
. . Petroleum infrastructure on the Earth will cost about one trillion dollars over the next decade and will be useless for producing energy when the oil runs out", argues SSI's Valentine. "A similar investment in SSPs (solar satellite power) built of non-terrestrial materials would give us an inexhaustible energy source and open the universe for settlement, too."
Dec 18, 01: At a conference about European offshore wind prospects, held in Brussels, the industry association forecast an increase in installed capacity from just 86 megawatts (MW) today to 50,000 MW by 2020!
. . EWEA cites studies that estimate the offshore wind energy potential of Europe could be as large as 3,000 terrawatt hours of electricity per year, an amount equivalent to the total electricity consumption in the 15 nation European Union. By 2010, world energy consumption is expected to increase almost 50%.
Dec14, 01: 85% of Earth's overall energy still produced by fossil fuels.
. . The Navy is trying to harness the power of ocean waves to power Marine Corps Base Hawai'i in Kane'ohe. It took rolling blackouts to awaken San Francisco to the need for alternative energy. More than 70% of the city's voters recently passed Proposition B, which will funnel $100 million into wind and solar energy.
. . Global production of solar photovoltaic units could exceed 350 megawatts in 2001. (That's additional power-unit production, not electrical production.) Global production was 201.3 MW in 1999 and 287.7 MW last year.
Smooshed bugs accumulate on wind-turbine propellers, adding aerodynamic drag thar siphons off up to a quarter of the windmills' energy production. Although the residue has no significant effect in mild breezes, it cuts power output by as much as 50% in strong winds.
The 150-watt bulbs currently in most traffic lights could be replaced by a 15-watt LED. In California, converting the 44,000 traffic lights to LEDs can save enough power to supply about 90,000 homes. Incandescent bulbs that are used in a traffic signal cost about $1.50, compared to an LED's price tag of $75 to $100. However, they have a life in excess of 10,000 hours. A white-emitting design combines an ultraviolet LED and an RGB phosphor to produce the desired white light. Another design uses a blue LED and a yellowish phosphor to generate white light.
Wind-generated energy costs 3 to 4 cents per kilowatt hour --about the same as coal-- but the indirect health and environmental costs associated with coal increase its costs to 5.5 to 8.3 cents per kilowatt hour, Jacobson said.
. . Writing in the journal Science, Mark Jacobson and Gilbert Masters of Stanford University argue that wind power is both safer and cheaper than coal, the top U.S. energy source.
. . The researchers said coal dust kills 2,000 U.S. mine workers annually and has cost taxpayers about $35 billion in monetary and medical benefits to former miners since 1973.
. . Wind power provides the United States with less than 1 percent of its energy, compared to 52% from coal, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The authors propose building 225,000 turbines that would cost the U.S. government an initial $338 billion with a minimum of $4 billion annually for maintenance.
. . The United States could eliminate almost two- thirds of its coal-generated electricity under this plan and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions to below 1990 levels.
May 24, 01: When Brazilians' after-dark activities are curbed by government energy restrictions, they may become more active in the bedroom, experts said.
. . They believe the official drive to lower electricity consumption in Latin America's biggest country could increase sexual activity and perhaps even create a baby boom. Babies would grow up to use even more electricity.

DENMARK LEADS IN WIND ENERGY

May 01: One offshore windfarm totals 40 MW, & it's owned by a cooperative of green-minded people. A Swedish offshore farm --2nd biggest-- is a quarter that. The Danish installation contributes 3% of Copanhagen's usage. By 2005, the country's production will double. Their industry makes half the world's turbines --2,500 MW total in 2000. About 5,600 spin in their own country --supplying 10% of the nation's juice, which should rise to 50% by 2030.

May 25, 01: A new Federal bill to raise fuel-efficiency req'ts for SUVs would save more oil than we could get from the Arctic Nat'l Wildlife REFUGE! Over a million barrels a DAY!

3-01: The cost of generating solar power is dropping quickly. The Stella Group, a solar energy economics consulting group, estimates that it costs about 18 cents per kilowatt-hour to run a California home using electricity drawn from the regional grid, and about 18 cents per kilowatt-hour using photovoltaic power.
. . But that's not typical. "A typical [photovoltaic] system that's attached to the grid will provide power for about 25 cents a kilowatt-hour", says Randy Udall, director at the Community Office for Resource Efficiency in Aspen, Colo. "That's about three times the national retail average."

March 6th, 01: Almost all the UK's electricity generated from renewable sources comes from the two hydroelectric dams in Scotland.
. . There are 600 wind farms around the UK and the first off-shore farm was opened last year off Blyth, Northumberland.
. . The use of wind power is rising rapidly. However, just 0.25 of the Britain's energy needs are currently met through wind power.
. . Waves can be used to turn a generator or turbine - as on Islay where the UK's first, and only, commercial wave power station was opened last November. The Islay power station only generates 500kw.
. . Solar energy is expensive to harness at present, it is rapidly coming down in price. Mark Johnston says it should be as cheap as wind within a decade.
. . The government has pledged that 10% of the UK's energy will come from renewable energy sources by 2010 - a promise backed up by a £100m boost announced by Prime Minister Tony Blair in early March.
. . Britain is the windiest country in Europe, but despite its geographical advantage, Britain has been slow to exploit its wind. But while the Dutch are leading the way, the British could soon follow.
The British Government is likely to announce a policy that could pave the way for offshore wind farms around their coasts. If that happens, then the British Wind Energy Association predict that around 5 gigawatts of power could be produced at sea by 2010. That would equate to a single windfarm 5000 times bigger than the Dutch windfarm, providing around 4% of Britain's electricity needs.
. . The North Sea Wind Park is likely to begin construction in around four years - but even so the Dutch are looking at it as a first step. NOVEM's de Bruijne said: "The long term goal in the Netherlands is to have 10% renewables in our energy supply by the year 2020, and wind energy has to produce the main part of that. In order to reach that goal, we have to install about 3000MW of wind turbines. We think in this country there is only room for 1500MW on land, and the other 1500MW will have to be at sea".
A diesel locomotive wastes only one-fifth the energy of a coal-powered steam engine to pull the same train. And Andy Rooney sez it can pull a train of 10 passenger cars (about the same number of people) from New York to Chicago on less fuel as an airliner uses to get just to the end of the runway, ready to take off!

. . Amory Lovins, of the Rocky Mountain Institute, is fond of reminding audiences: "The stone age didn't end because the stone ran out, and the oil age will be just the same."

. . Refrigerators and freezers consume about a sixth of all U.S. electricity.
One camp, led by energy consultants Peter Huber and Mark P. Mills, contends that the Internet infrastructure, the telephone system, home and office computers and peripheral devices such as printers, scanners and fax machines together accounted for 13% of America's energy use last year. By the end of the decade, they say, that number will rise to 35% or more.
. . Other researchers, including scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, say high-tech consumes only about 3% of U.S. power.
. . A Department of Commerce study this year said that although information technology industries now account for only 8.3% of gross domestic product, they have grown so fast as to contribute nearly a third of real U.S. economic growth between 1995 and 1999.
INTERNET ELECTRICITY. . The Forbes magazine claim that, in 1998, the Internet used 8% of the U.S. electricity is several times overstated, and was based on a report by the Greening Earth Society, an arm of a coal industry lobby, the Western Fuels Association. Coal use is in decline, having fallen 2.1% in 1998. Apparently, coal producers have become desperate, and have resorted to some truth-twisting.
Internet Efficiency:
Sending a 10-pound package by overnight air uses 40% less fuel than driving round-trip to the local mall. Workers can work over the Internet rather than commute and occupying office space. Researchers predict this savings: a 1.5 billion-square-foot reduction in retail space, a 1 billion-square-foot reduction in warehouse space and possibly a 2 billion- square-foot reduction in commercial office space. An energy savings from operations and maintenance alone of 53 billion kilowatt hours per year--the equivalent output of more than 21 average power plants--and 67 trillion BTUs of natural gas. A savings, by the year 2003, of 2.7 million tons of paper annually, resulting in an annual decrease in global- warming pollution of 10 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Four and a half pounds of fiber optic cable carries as much information as a copper wire line the same length weighing 1,600 pounds. Imagine the difference in the energy required to mine & smelt the many tons of copper ore, vs the handfull of sand that makes the glass fibers! That's an example of how more technology is ecological. e.g.: Transistors vs vacuum tubes!

Nov 16th, 00: A new report by the World Commission on Dams, an independent body sponsored by the World Bank and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), calls for a new approach to planning and building dams that takes into account the needs and desires of people.
. . "We estimate there are about 40-80 million people that have been displaced by dams. You are talking about a very significant number of people", Steiner said in an interview.
. . "The Bank is currently funding less than one percent of dam projects worldwide within strict environmental and social guidelines", World Bank President James Wolfensohn said.
. . The report said China and India had half the world's 45,000 dams. Dams account for 19% of electricity generated worldwide, and 24 countries generate more than 90% of their power from dams.
Oct 27, 00. New work shows the potential for improving the average fuel efficiency in heavy trucks to as much as 12 miles per gallon, up from an industry average of less than 6.8 miles per gallon today.
. . The work -- done under contract with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory -- is to reduce aerodynamic drag by at least 35%, and perhaps by 50% or more. A 35% drag reduction translates to approximately a 12% drop in fuel consumption for tractor-trailers. If applied to the entire U.S. fleet, that would save an estimated 1.2 billion gallons of fuel a year.
. . Beyond the fuel savings, however, the Circulation Control system being developed and evaluated in GTRI's wind tunnel could improve directional control for trailers, increase traction, and augment braking. Also known as pneumatic control, this aerodynamic system could also create lift on the trailer, effectively reducing its weight. That would cut rolling resistance on tires, reduce wear and also increase fuel economy.
. . The pneumatic system [controlled by a computer, w many sensor inputs] works by blowing compressed air from slots located on different parts of the trailer. Air blown over curved surfaces on top of the trailer smooths airflow there, decreasing drag and making the entire trailer act like a wing to lift as much as 15% of the weight off the tires. Blowing air from slots on the bottom of the truck would have the opposite effect, multiplying downward force on the tires to improve traction and braking when needed.
Oct 27, 00. The first ultraviolet (UV) solid-state microcavity laser has been demonstrated in prototype by scientists at the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories working with colleagues at Brown University.
. . Among their benefits, UV VCSELS (vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers) coated with phosphors can generate the white light most prized for indoor lighting -- illumination currently provided by gas-filled fluorescent tubes widely used in offices, schools, factories, and by incandescent bulbs used in most homes.
. . Such solid-state emitters will last five to ten times longer than fluorescent tubes, be far hardier, and perhaps most noticeably, grouped several hundred to a postage-sized chip, will have aesthetic value: instead of a single clunky tube, the chips will be arranged in any configuration one might wish on ceiling, wall, or furniture.
. . LEDs -- light-emitting diodes built on similar principles to VCSELs -- in the red range have already replaced ordinary light bulbs in traffic lights and vehicle tail lights. The units now exceed 50% efficiency in infrared and red.
. . By 2025, it "should translate [globally] into cost savings of $100 billion a year, power generation capacity reductions of 120 gigawatts, and carbon emission reductions of approximately 350 million tons per year (assuming that all the savings come from coal-fired plants)."
. . "No other major electricity application (motors, heating, refrigeration) represents such a large energy savings potential."
. . It causes weapons-grade fissionable materials and dangerous E. coli bacteria to fluoresce very efficiently in the visible spectrum.
October 22, 1999 ENN. SOLAR CELL EFFICIENCY makes big leaps. Scientists at Spectrolab, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp., and the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory have increased the efficiency of terrestrial solar cells to 32%, double the current efficiency ratings, and hope to take it to greater than 40%. The new technology is called triple-junction gallium- indium-phosphide on gallium arsenide on germanium concentrator solar cell. Multi-junction cells are more efficient, only about one-half of the real estate is require to generate the same power output compared to crystalline silicon or thin-film flat-plate modules.
Tests on the efficiency of bicycle-chain drives found that it ranged up to 98.6% (as low as 81). These were new chains. Surprisingly, lubrication had little to do with it, just "taking up the space where dirt could've gotten in. More important: the sizes of the sprockets--the bigger, the better. And the *more tension on the chain, the better.
We hope they'll now test dirty old chains, to see what design-changes help. And maybe bike manufacturers post their energy efficiency, like refrigerators, 'cause you're the engine that supplies that energy!

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