Archive for December, 2006
December 13, 2006 at 6:23 pm · Filed under Green Tech
The ethanol industry appears poised for another big year in 2007, as companies scramble to take advantage of continuing government subsidies and a growing political desire to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
But Wall Street investors who went pedal-to-the-metal during ethanol’s midyear IPO frenzy seem to be easing off the accelerator upon warnings of volatile commodity prices and a potential oversupply down the road.
VeraSun Energy Corp. and Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings Inc., the country’s second- and fourth-largest ethanol producers, respectively, went public in June amid perfect market conditions. Corn was cheap, gas cost a bundle and refiners were clamoring for more ethanol to use as a cleaner-burning alternative to the additive MTBE.
But autumn brought falling gas prices, and ethanol companies saw their stock prices drop by more than 40 percent.
The deteriorating market conditions also prompted the US’s third largest ethanol producer, Iowa-based Hawkeye Holdings Inc., to postpone its planned IPO, writes Bismarc Tribune. Link
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December 7, 2006 at 2:26 pm · Filed under Solar, Video
Spectrolab, has achieved a new world record in terrestrial concentrator solar cell efficiency. Using concentrated sunlight, Spectrolab demonstrated the ability of a photovoltaic cell to convert 40.7 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) verified the milestone. High efficiency multijunction cells have a significant advantage over conventional silicon cells in concentrator systems because fewer solar cells are required to achieve the same power output. This technology will continue to dramatically reduce the cost of generating electricity from solar energy as well as the cost of materials used in high-power space satellites and terrestrial applications.
“This solar cell performance is the highest efficiency level any photovoltaic device has ever achieved,” said Dr. David Lillington, president of Spectrolab. “The terrestrial cell we have developed uses the same technology base as our space-based cells. So, once qualified, they can be manufactured in very high volumes with minimal impact to production flow.”
Researchers have been working toward the “40 percent barrier” for the past two decades. In the 1980s, multi-junction solar cells achieved about 16 percent efficiency, and DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory broke the 30 percent barrier in 1994. Today, most satellites use these multi-junction solar cells, and Spectrolab, a subsidiary of The Boeing Company, recently produced its two millionth solar cell using multi-junction technology. The new Spectrolab cell, developed with DOE funding, could lead to more affordable solar power systems here on Earth, costing as little as $3 per watt to install and producing electricity at a cost of 8 to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. Read the rest of this entry »
December 4, 2006 at 1:27 pm · Filed under Green Tech, Off Grid, Wind Power
Off the grid blog writes:
“I found a fantastic government resource [PDF], with documentation on what you need to consider when going off the electrical grid either as a new home builder, or home renovator. There are pages and pages of detailed suggestions, and steps for planning an ideal off-grid home, so browse or delve right in. You can’t help but learn something by reading just a page of it. Here are a few interesting points and definitions from the document:
Off-grid homes have shortened the [electricity delivery] line and have the electricity generating equipment in their backyards [instead of hundreds of kilometers away]. Their electricity comes from a photovoltaic array (solar panel), wind turbine, micro-hydro turbine and/or a fossil-fueled generator. Collectively, the other parts of the system equipment are known as the balance of system (BOS) and include low-voltage (12 volt) direct current (DC) electrical storage (batteries) and regulating equipment (controller, inverter, battery charger, DC disconnect and monitor) right in the house. Instead of paying for someone else to look after the supply of electricity, people living off-grid need to be their own power managers.”
Read the rest of this entry »
December 2, 2006 at 4:50 pm · Filed under Activism, Uncategorized
The 2007 ecobabes calendar is out! You may wonder what an ecobabe is. First of all she is good-looking and somehow working to protect the environment or promote renewable energy. From the ecobabes website:
“An ecobabe is a woman working to create a better world for all of us and all our children. She is aware that she has an impact on the planet and makes choices to try to minimize her negative effects and to affect the change she wants to see in the world. ecobabes are all unique, all working on different issues, all living different lives, and all ages.”
Say hello to Ms. January Edyie:
And my two favourites Ms. May, Camila
Ms. November, Karen
The ecobabe calender is made by The Climate Protection Campaign – you can fint the entire calender and interviews with the babes at www.ecobabes.org
December 1, 2006 at 8:14 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Everything is going either hybrid, hydrogen or solar. The Energy Blog writes today about a new french hybrid sailboat:
A French catamaran offers a different approach to power and propulsion
The novel part of the Lagoon 440 is its propulsion system—it’s a diesel-electric hybrid. Twin electric motors, one mounted in each hull, power the boat. Link
December 1, 2006 at 1:19 am · Filed under Green Tech
Last week I did a story for a company magazine about a new way of cleaning polluted grounds. A factory in Roedekro in Denmark has for years polluted the underground with perchlor and it had allready hit the groundwater near drinking water well. Removing the contaminated soil was not an option because of the huge amounts and the fact that the usefull factory buildings are placed right above the contamination. The solution was dynamic underground stripping – a method where steam is blown into the ground and sucked out again. This method for treating underground contaminants with heat is much faster and more effective than traditional treatment methods, but it has not been used much because the process is very difficult to control. Once the steam pumping has begun it is critical that absolutely nothing can cause downtime in the months it takes. The result can be that the chemicals are pressed out of the area and out of control. Read the rest of this entry »
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