Category:

Solar power getting brighter for U.S. grid

U.S. government approves first three solar projects under a plan for Western states that envisions enough power for 8 million households. UPI/Stephen Shaver WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) — The first solar energy projects were sanctioned under a fast-track program that envisions enough power for 8 million homes, the U.S. Interior Department said. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced the first three solar energy projects were approved according to the terms of the so-called Western Solar Plan . Once built, the three projects on public lands in Nevada will generate as much as 440 megawatts of energy, enough to meet the annual demands of about 132,000 homes. "Through thoughtful planning and upfront public participation, these solar projects demonstrate we can reduce permitting times, create certainty for energy developers, and achieve better outcomes for communities and the environment," Jewell said in a statement. The plan, steered by the department’s Bureau of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Paris Geothermal Boom Brings Deep Drilling to Crowded Suburbs

Work on the floor of the drilling rig at the geothermal energy extraction site in Paris. Photographer: Kosuke Okahara/Bloomberg Squashed between a highway overpass and a towering suburban shopping center east of Paris, a drilling rig is completing the second of two geothermal wells aimed at capturing the earth’s natural heat for homes and offices. The project is one of five around the French capital being built by Engie, the new name for GDF Suez SA, accelerating a geothermal boom in the region. Greater Paris already boasted the world’s largest concentration of deep geothermal wells linked to heating networks, even before these latest additions. An energy law making its way through the French parliament that seeks to spur rewewable energy could lead to more. “This is the most active period for geothermal in two decades,” Damien Terouanne, head of Engie’s Cofely Reseaux unit that specializes in heating and cooling […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Washington finds unlikely ally in OPEC as biofuels debate rages

NEW YORK The Obama administration has found an unlikely ally in its efforts to keep pushing more biofuel into the nation’s gasoline supply: OPEC. The lowest oil prices in over six years have fueled a resurgence in U.S. gasoline use in recent months as more Americans take to the road. Demand is expected to climb 1.5 percent this year to nearly 139 billion gallons (526 billion liters) according to the government’s most recent forecasts, enough to easily accommodate small increases in ethanol quotas without breaching the so-called "blend wall" that refiners say puts a cap on blending at around 10 percent of total gasoline and diesel supply. It may be even higher, based on data from the first quarter, when gasoline use surged by more than 3 percent, the fastest in over a decade. Those calculations help explain why biofuel backers are up in arms over the Environmental Protection […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EPA proposes renewable fuel quotas for 2014, 2015, and 2016

The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed renewable fuel quotas for 2014 that it said reflect the year’s actual biofuel use, and for 2015 and 2016 and, for biodiesel, quotas through 2017 that increase steadily over time. It proposed using authority granted by Congress to reduce quotas below federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) levels established under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). The proposal’s steadily increasing volumes indicate that biofuels remain an important part of the nation’s strategy to improve energy security and address climate change, it said. Under the notice of proposed rulemaking , which Administrator Gina McCarthy signed on May 29, EPA proposed adjustments to advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel targets for all 3 years. The proposed quotas for 2015 and 2016 “are expected to spur further progress in overcoming current constraints in renewable fuel distribution infrastructure, which in turn is expected to lead to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Will Homeowners Shell Out Thousands for Super Batteries?

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk sees a future in which super batteries change the world , making solar power available at night and turning homes into tiny utilities. Kellie Haynes, an event planner in Sacramento, Calif., is one of the few Americans who already lives in that world. She says she loves the benefits but didn’t have to cover all the costs. Whether people are willing to pay thousands of dollars apiece to join her remains one of the biggest questions hanging over Mr. Musk’s Tesla Motors Inc. TSLA 1.62 % and other companies jumping into the budding business of electricity-storage batteries. Ms. Haynes lives in a year-old house with solar panels and a battery system that cost her nothing—the $25,000 system designed by San Francisco company Sunverge Energy Inc. was covered by government subsidies and utility incentives , according to developer Pacific Housing Inc. that built her 34-house neighborhood […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Support for renewables lacking, global reports find

Global reports find support for low-carbon economies not advancing as well as expected. Photo by akiyoko/Shutterstock. PARIS, May 19 (UPI) — A report from the International Energy Agency in Paris finds the pace at which renewable energy is advancing is lagging far behind global goals for 2030. A joint IEA-World Bank report on a U.N. initiative, Sustainable Energy for All, finds the share of renewable energy on the global grid grew from 17.8 percent in 2010 to 18.1 percent two years later. The initiative calls for at least twice that by 2030. Substantial investments beyond the $400 billion rate in renewables, to at least $1 trillion, are needed to achieve the goals. The lack of investments, the report found, was one of the main drivers behind the slow pace of progress. A survey from the International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, finds subsidies for the energy industry amounted to $492 billion […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Build for Rhode Island wind farm one step closer

Rhode island wind farm, billed as first offshore wind farm in the United States, is moving closer to construction phase. Photo by Teun van den Dries/Shutterstock NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I., May 19 (UPI) — A Rhode Island company will be the first of its kind to build a vessel to support the development of the inaugural U.S. offshore wind farm, planners said. Rhode Island Fast Ferry was contracted by developer Deepwater Wind to build a vessel and design the training for crew transfer. The ferry company will invest more than $4 million and employ more than 70 workers to build the vessel. "This will mean more jobs in the marine trades for Rhode Islanders and another way that the Ocean State will lead the growth of this new American offshore wind industry," Deepwater Wind Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Grybowski said in a statement. The ferry company will provide crew and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

English Channel to host wind farm

German energy company E.ON makes final investment decision to build wind farm in English Channel. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/Teun van den Dries. DUSSELDORF, Germany, May 18 (UPI) — German energy company E.ON said Monday it’s continuing its legacy as the largest European investor in wind by building a wind farm in the English Channel. E.ON said it made a final investment decision on the Rampion wind farm in the English Channel. Backed by a $374 million commitment by the U.K. Green Investment Bank, the project is expected to generate enough energy to meet the annual demand of 300,000 average households. The German company is the third-largest offshore wind energy operator, with 1.2 gigawatts of capacity on the regional grid. Since 2007, the company said it’s invested more than $10 trillion on renewable power. "Our Rampion project starts from a strong position," Mike Winkel, an E.ON board member, said in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Major Flaw Found in “ITER” – nuclear fusion reactor

In their paper “Elephant in the room: overlooked plasma-destroying reaction with cross section 1012 times that for fusion necessitates redesign of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER,”* three physicists from California Science and Engineering Corp., Irvine, CA, claim that ITER designers were unaware that the ignored fusion-preventing atomic reaction known as “charge transfer” or “CT,” had a trillion times higher cross section (probability) than that for fusion, hence it will prevent the ignition of ITER, as it did in all 160-odd tokamaks within the past 50 years.  CT’s cross section measurement in UK1 of a billion barn became known only after ITER was designed; fusion cross section is a 1/1000 of a barn.  There no mention of CT in ITER design2. EXISTENCE OF ‘CRITICAL ENERGY’.  Existence of CT gives rise to the hitherto – unknown critical energy below which reactors are inoperable; and above which – free from CT destruction […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

British secretary calls for ‘solar revolution’

Incoming British energy and climate secretary calls for more effort to build up behind solar power capacity. File Photo by UPI/Bill Greenblatt. LONDON, May 15 (UPI) — Incoming British Energy Secretary Amber Rudd told her local newspaper she aims to usher in a "solar revolution" through the new administration. British Prime Minister David Cameron tapped Rudd as the head of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, at which she’s served since last year. From 2010-12, she was a minister in the British Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. Rudd laid out part of her strategy in an interview with her local newspaper , the Hastings and St. Leonards Observer. "I want to unleash a new solar revolution," she said in the interview. "We have a million people living under roofs with solar panels and that number needs to increase." DECC last year said the country was in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple