Category: Energy Matters

 

by Carl Levesque, AWEA – RenewableEnergyWorld.com

Providing further support to a package of previously passed legislation impacting renewables development, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick set a goal of developing 2,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity by 2020.

“With the growing interest in wind turbines we see in communities across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the abundant wind resource we have off our coast, wind power is going to be a centerpiece of the clean energy economy we are creating for Massachusetts,” said Patrick.

Massachusetts has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for one of just two Wind Technology Testing Centers in the country.

 

The Guardian

Home wind turbines are generating a fraction of the energy promised by manufacturers, and in some cases use more electricity than they make, a report warns today. The results of what is thought to be the most comprehensive study undertaken of the industry show the worst performers provided just 41 watt-hours a day – less than the energy needed for a conventional lightbulb for an hour, or even to power the turbine’s own electronics.

On average the turbines surveyed provided enough electricity to light an energy-efficient house, but this still only represented 5%-10% of the manufacturers’ claims, said consultants Encraft. The findings will be an embarrassment for an industry which was an early winner from the small but high-profile rush to adopt green technologies. Trendsetters included the actor Pete Postlethwaite at his country house in Shropshire and novelist Iain Banks at his home near Edinburgh. Opposition leader David Cameron applied for permission for a turbine on his west London home.

But the results also prove that when turbines are put up in the right places they are a good investment, said Matthew Rhodes, Encraft’s managing director. “Sadly, an average semi-detached house, like the areas where most people live, where there are obstructions like trees and buildings, are poor locations,” he said. The “vast majority” of customers had been poorly advised, said Rhodes: “There’s a risk they [customers] will go off the whole agenda.”

The study, funded by the Pilkington Energy Efficiency Trust and the BRE Trust, looked at turbines made by five manufacturers in four rural, 10 suburban and 12 urban sites for a year. It found the best performing turbines would generate “clean” electricity equivalent to that needed to manufacture them in less than two years, while the worst performing ones would take 40 years.

However, Alex Murley, the BWEA’s micro-generation expert, said the study had been skewed unfairly, with few sites, and too many in areas with poor wind.

New codes of conduct for manufacturers and installers had been introduced, he added. The latest BWEA figures show 1,000 building-mounted small turbines had been installed in the UK by the end of 2007, with 900 of those installed during that year.

• This article was amended on Friday 15 January 2009. The Encraft Warwick wind trials, which tested building-mounted wind turbines, were not funded by the British Wind Energy Association and the government, as we reported above. The research element of the project was funded by the Pilkington Energy Efficiency Trust and the BRE Trust. This has been corrected.

In North American the Prius is claimed to have an average consumption of 50mpg, which should equate to about 4.0L/100km in Australia – a 10 per cent reduction compared with the old model. However, the final windscreen rating label figure in Australia could vary from this because of different Government test requirements in both countries.

Technology highlights include solar panels in the sunroof designed to assist the car’s air-conditioning system, as well as radar cruise control and a pre-crash safety system that, until now, have in Toyota world been exclusive to Lexus.

Pricing of the Prius in Australia is yet to be announced, but is expected to be similar to the current models which start at $37,000 and stretch to $47,000. However, the new Prius range is likely to expand from two to three models so there is no longer a $10,000 price gap.

Toyota wants the new model to appeal more to private buyers. Currently, fleet customers account for three out of every four Prius sales. The aim is to have an even split between private and business customers.

“While we already have a lot of demand from corporate customers for the new Prius, our main focus is on private buyers, especially in the initial stages while supply is relatively tight,” says Toyota Australia’s hybrid car expert, Vic Johnstone.

The new Prius will continue to be made in Japan, as with the previous two models. But it was also going to be made in a second factory in North America – Toyota’s biggest market for the Prius – until the global credit crunch derailed those plans.

The problem now is that Toyota is forecasting greater demand for the Prius worldwide given the expected rise in petrol prices, but production at the Japanese factory will only be increased by a modest amount. Had the Mississippi factory gone ahead, Prius production could have doubled.

With only one Prius factory, initial supply of the new model will likely be restricted, and we could see a repeat of the six- to eight-month delays that affected the previous model when it was introduced five years ago.

“We are doing everything we can to make sure the waiting list is not too long,” says Toyota Australia’s product planning boss, Peter Evans. “However, we won’t know until closer to the on-sale date what the demand for the new car is like around the world. If another country reduces their Prius order, then hopefully we can get more cars.”

Standard equipment for the new model is yet to be finalised but it is expected all Prius models will come standard with front, side and head-protecting ‘curtain’ airbags (previously, only the dearest model has curtain airbags) and stability control, which can help prevent a skid in a corner.

Other features, such as the solar panel sunroof, high intensity headlights, a digital heads-up display in the windscreen, radar cruise control and automatic parking technology (not to mention leather upholstery and a premium sound system) will likely be used to help distinguish models at three different price points.

The new Prius slips more efficiently through the air than the previous model; Toyota claims it has the lowest co-efficient of drag (a figure of 0.25cd, for the tech heads) than any mass-production car. Creating less wind turbulence at freeway speeds helps reduce fuel consumption.

This improvement is despite the fact that the new Prius is slightly longer and wider than before, and therefore has a much roomier interior and a bigger cargo space.

To offset the weight of some of the new technology that has been added, the new Prius has a lightweight aluminium bonnet and tailgate.

The new car has more than 1000 patents covering its innovations. Twenty years ago, it was considered extravagant when the first ever Lexus had 400 patents on it.

As with the previous Prius there is still a petrol engine under the bonnet, and the car is refueled just like a normal car on regular unleaded. But a plug-in version which can be recharged overnight is due within the next three years.

Somewhat bizarrely, the new Prius has a bigger petrol engine than its predecessor (up from a 1.5-litre four-cylinder to a 1.8, the same size as the engine in a Corolla) but it also has a bigger electric motor and a more efficient battery pack.

The torque, or pulling power, at low revs has deliberately been reduced to make the Prius accelerate more smoothly off the line. But engineers have increased the amount of torque mid-way through the rev range to better suit real-world driving conditions.

The result is a one second reduction in the claimed 0 to 100km/h acceleration time, from 10.9 seconds to 9.9, about as ‘quick’ as a Camry.

More than 12,000 Prius hybrids have been sold in Australia since the original model went on sale in 2001, four years after it went on sale internationally.

Around the world, among its fans the Prius has found favour with taxi drivers, with the tear-drop shaped hatchback used as a cab from New York to New South Wales – and even remote towns such as Cairns.

Over the past few years, 32 Prius taxis have clocked up an average of 200,000km annually, with one recording the highest distance so far of 550,000km. That vehicle had its battery pack replaced at 500,000km, while another had its battery replaced at 350,000km. Toyota Australia says these are the only two battery packs it is aware of that have been replaced in eight years of local Prius sales.

The company says about 85 per cent of the expired battery packs are recycled, and most of the process and components are handled locally.

From The Guardian

The United States has declared its intention to exploit the vast oil and mineral wealth hidden below the Arctic circle by extending its “sovereign rights” over the seabed.

A detailed policy directive – issued a week before George Bush quits the White House – makes explicit the extent of US ambitions in the polar region beyond Alaska.

“The United States is an Arctic nation, with varied and compelling interests in that region,” the document – National Security Presidential Directive 66 – states in its introduction, while acknowledging “a growing awareness that the Arctic region is both fragile and rich in resources”.

There is a qualified acceptance of “the effects of climate change and increasing human activity in the Arctic region” but the main thrust of the paper concerns how the US can tap potential energy resources.

One of the main obstacles to staking a claim on the Arctic seafloor has been opposition in the Senate to ratification of the United Nations’ 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.

The White House implicitly urges senators to overcome residual suspicions of the UN in the interests of national security, environmental protection and business opportunity. The US is one of the few nations not to have signed up to the agreement which allows countries to extend their control of the seabed from 200 miles to up to 350 miles beyond their coastline.

Ratification, it says, would define “with certainty the area of the Arctic seabed and subsoil in which the United States may exercise its sovereign rights over natural resources such as oil, natural gas, methane hydrates, minerals, and living marine species… “

Methane hydrates are solidified gases formed under great pressure and at low temperatures on the seafloor. They have been identified as an extensive energy source in future, although some environmentalists have warned they could trigger runaway global warming.

The directive calls for “all actions necessary to establish the outer limit of the continental shelf appertaining to the United States, in the Arctic and in other regions, to the fullest extent permitted under international law.”

The paper sounds a note of scepticism about the extent of global warming. “High levels of uncertainty remain concerning the effects of climate change and increased human activity in the Arctic,” it remarks. “An understanding of the probable consequences of global climate variability and change on Arctic ecosystems is essential to guide the effective long-term management of Arctic natural resources and to address socioeconomic impacts of changing patterns in the use of natural resources.”

Two years ago a Russian submarine planted a flag on the seabed under the Arctic ice, intensifying the race for offshore Arctic resources. The Russian government has commissioned detailed marine, geological work to determine the external border of the Russian continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. It is due to be completed by 2011.

The US and Canada still have an unresolved boundary in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, an area thought to be rich in oil and natural gas deposits. The new US policy is binding on future administrations until replaced.

Britain has signalled that it will have lodged five claims on the Atlantic seabed with UN’s Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf by May this year. Its latest submission, covering the area Hatton/Rockall basin west of Scotland, is due to be handed in to the UN offices in New York shortly.

 

According to the Mehr Iran news agency, Iranian energy minister Parviz Fattah said: “The country backs the use of alternative and renewable energy sources. In future alternative energy sources will be greatly developed in the country. The growth of investments in this sphere is expected.”

The solar radiation hitting the Earth contains around 10,000 times the energy needs of the world’s population. CSP is seen by many as a simpler, cheaper and more efficient way to harness the sun’s energy than other methods such as photovoltaic panels. But it only works in places with clear skies and strong sunshine. As such, large CSP plants of up to 20mw each are already in construction in the sunnier parts of the world.

Spanish firms, in particular, are moving quickly with CSP: more than 50 solar projects around Spain have been approved for construction by the government and, by 2015, the country will generate more than 2GW of power from CSP, comfortably exceeding current national targets. The companies there are also exporting their technology to Morocco, Algeria and the US.

At present the Iranian plant is small (just 250KW, probably enough for just over 200 family homes while the sun is shining) but the locally-
built mirrors join thousands of smaller-scale solar-thermal installations already in place around the country.

Whether Iran has plans to build bigger solar plants or add photovoltaic panels to those plans is unclear, but an ambitious move in this direction would be a good idea. Not only because the region has a huge resource of sunlight falling onto it, so tapping even a small proportion of that would be a cheap and clean way to provide energy for the country. But, just perhaps, solar plants could also placate those international observers that are suspicious of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nuclear plans.