WHEATON, Ill., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPage Habitat for Humanity, ComEd, and College of DuPage today announced a green partnership in the development of a $3 million Habitat for Humanity residential subdivision in DuPage County. The new homes, which will be built in the Pioneer Prairie neighborhood of suburban West Chicago, will allow 11 limited-income families to purchase attainable, sustainable homes.
ComEd is playing a central role in providing energy efficiency expertise for construction of the homes of Pioneer Prairie and the working families who will occupy them. Through an innovative new class called Sustainable Design Initiative taught at College of DuPage, architecture and construction management students will work alongside industry professionals and technical experts, like the ComEd Energy Doctor, to evaluate green building strategies for the 11 forthcoming Habitat homes - and for DuPage Habitat for Humanity in the long-term.
"ComEd is committed to helping all our customers become smart energy consumers, especially in the current economic climate. That's why we're suggesting simple steps our customers can take to shrink their carbon footprints - and their energy costs," said Anne Pramaggiore, executive vice president of Customer Operations, Regulatory, and External Affairs, ComEd.
"This creative collaboration allows ComEd to expand our energy efficiency education efforts by providing technical expertise to DuPage Habitat for Humanity and the students of Sustainable Design Initiative."
At the semester's conclusion, the students of Sustainable Design Initiative will present a plan to DuPage Habitat for Humanity detailing money-saving green solutions available to all homeowners and home developers. The plan will offer a complete cost-benefit analysis of energy efficiency recommendations for home construction, recycling, and landscaping.
Later this year, DuPage Habitat for Humanity, ComEd, and College of DuPage plan to publicize the students' findings through a series of free community events designed to inform area residents of low- and no-cost options for managing energy costs and reducing energy usage.
"This has been a great opportunity for our students to see the real-world applications of sustainable design principles," said Jane Ostergaard, Architecture Coordinator, College of DuPage. "Working with Habitat has pushed the students to look carefully at the cost benefits and consequences of the recommendations they are preparing."
In June, DuPage Habitat for Humanity will break ground on Pioneer Prairie, a three-acre residential subdivision of 11 detached, single-family homes. The neighborhood is located at the intersection of Sherman and Pomeroy streets in West Chicago. In addition to the new homes, the development will provide many benefits to local residents and the surrounding community, including new infrastructure, increased home values, and enhanced aesthetic appeal thanks to new sidewalks, parkway trees, streetscapes, and an expanded, revitalized Pioneer Park.
"DuPage Habitat offers families a hand up, not a hand out. Habitat's model for community-centered development of affordable homes offers community benefits, infrastructure improvements and now energy efficiency solutions through partnerships with local families, donors and volunteers that increase the supply of much-needed, sustainable, attainable homes in DuPage County," said Sarah Brachle, executive director of DuPage Habitat for Humanity.
DuPage Habitat for Humanity builds and sells homes to qualified hard-working, limited-income families. Families must earn sufficient income to pay their 30-year mortgages to DuPage Habitat. In addition, homeowners complete 250 "sweat equity" hours building their own home and their neighbors' homes, and participating in finance, budgeting, and home repair classes. All Habitat homeowners pay local property taxes and utilities.
The next homeowner application session will be held at 10 a.m. Feb. 28 at the DuPage County Building, located at 421 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton. The session, offered in English and Spanish, is a requirement for application to the program.
DuPage Habitat for Humanity has raised $2.5 million in philanthropic, government, and community support for the 11 Pioneer Prairie homes and five scattered-site rehabbed homes. The donors are not only funding the development of 11 new energy-efficient homes, they are creating a 30-year annuity that continues to help fund affordable home construction in DuPage County for years to come. Donors include: ComEd, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Ambitech Engineering, Matrex Exhibits, Tyndale House Publishers, Air-Rite Heating and Cooling, Goldman Sachs, Painters and Allied Trades Union, Mark Fessler, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, and Showalter Roofing.
Supporting the development of Pioneer Prairie contributes to Exelon 2020, the comprehensive corporate strategy of ComEd's parent company, Exelon, to reduce, offset, or displace more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
NASA Invests In Methane-Power With New Rocket
On January 16, 2007, at a facility on the Mojave Desert, NASA tested an engine with methane as its fuel.
With methane abundantly available in the solar system, it is considered a better fuel to use than conventional fuels such as liquid oxygen (LOX)/liquid hydrogen (LH2) and solid chemicals—what is used on the engines of the Space Shuttle.
Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. Although this test of the methane-powered engine is in the very early stages of development, such an engine could be key for successful exploration of the outer solar system.
NASA contractor Alliant Techsystems manufactured the main engine in the test. The engine had a thrust of 7,500 pounds. Alliant (ATK), spun off from Honeywell in 1990, is a major U.S. defense and aerospace contractor. With headquarters in Edina, Minnesota, ATK Launch Systems Group (formerly known as ATK-Thiokol) will build the Ares I launch vehicle for the new NASA Project Constellation, which replaces the Space Shuttle fleet.
XCOR Aerospace, which partnered with ATK on the methane test rocket, is a private rocket engine and spaceflight development company. It is headquartered in Mojave, California, within the Mojave Desert. Another of its activities is development of the reusable suborbital spaceplane Xerus for use with tourists and researchers.
NASA scientists and engineers are working on a LOX/methane engine for future missions in the solar system. Burning methane in the presence of oxygen (O2) produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O): CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O.
Methane, instead of LH2, is very advantageous because it is lighter to store (due to it being able to be stored at lower temperatures and in smaller containers, being denser than hydrogen), thus, cheaper to use. Plus, methane is much safer to use.
One of the main difficulties with using methane with oxygen is that methane needs an ignition source (some current fuels spontaneously combust with liquid oxygen, such as the fuel used in the solid rocket boosters of the Space Shuttle, which is called Ammonium Percholoate Composite Propellant, or APCP). Thus, NASA is working on a reliable ignition source that can be used in the extreme temperatures of outer space. [last two paragraphs modified 5-7-2007 per comment #1]
However, methane’s biggest plus may be that it can be made on other planets and celestial bodies. For example, on Saturn’s moon Titan, methane lakes and rivers contain abundant amounts of liquid methane. A methane-powered spacecraft, manned or unmanned, could land on Titan, explore the moon, and than gather enough methane to return to the Earth. Rather than send fuel for one round trip, only one-half the fuel would be needed for the outgoing part of the trip. The other half of the fuel could be obtained on the moon, itself.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all contain methane, which opens up the possibilities of grand exploration missions to these planets with methane-powered engines.
Go to NASA’s “Methane Blast” website to view the video on the methane-powered rocket test.
With methane abundantly available in the solar system, it is considered a better fuel to use than conventional fuels such as liquid oxygen (LOX)/liquid hydrogen (LH2) and solid chemicals—what is used on the engines of the Space Shuttle.
Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. Although this test of the methane-powered engine is in the very early stages of development, such an engine could be key for successful exploration of the outer solar system.
NASA contractor Alliant Techsystems manufactured the main engine in the test. The engine had a thrust of 7,500 pounds. Alliant (ATK), spun off from Honeywell in 1990, is a major U.S. defense and aerospace contractor. With headquarters in Edina, Minnesota, ATK Launch Systems Group (formerly known as ATK-Thiokol) will build the Ares I launch vehicle for the new NASA Project Constellation, which replaces the Space Shuttle fleet.
XCOR Aerospace, which partnered with ATK on the methane test rocket, is a private rocket engine and spaceflight development company. It is headquartered in Mojave, California, within the Mojave Desert. Another of its activities is development of the reusable suborbital spaceplane Xerus for use with tourists and researchers.
NASA scientists and engineers are working on a LOX/methane engine for future missions in the solar system. Burning methane in the presence of oxygen (O2) produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O): CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O.
Methane, instead of LH2, is very advantageous because it is lighter to store (due to it being able to be stored at lower temperatures and in smaller containers, being denser than hydrogen), thus, cheaper to use. Plus, methane is much safer to use.
One of the main difficulties with using methane with oxygen is that methane needs an ignition source (some current fuels spontaneously combust with liquid oxygen, such as the fuel used in the solid rocket boosters of the Space Shuttle, which is called Ammonium Percholoate Composite Propellant, or APCP). Thus, NASA is working on a reliable ignition source that can be used in the extreme temperatures of outer space. [last two paragraphs modified 5-7-2007 per comment #1]
However, methane’s biggest plus may be that it can be made on other planets and celestial bodies. For example, on Saturn’s moon Titan, methane lakes and rivers contain abundant amounts of liquid methane. A methane-powered spacecraft, manned or unmanned, could land on Titan, explore the moon, and than gather enough methane to return to the Earth. Rather than send fuel for one round trip, only one-half the fuel would be needed for the outgoing part of the trip. The other half of the fuel could be obtained on the moon, itself.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all contain methane, which opens up the possibilities of grand exploration missions to these planets with methane-powered engines.
Go to NASA’s “Methane Blast” website to view the video on the methane-powered rocket test.
How Can Hamsters Create More Energy?
ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2009) — Could hamsters help solve the world's energy crisis? Probably not, but a hamster wearing a power-generating jacket is doing its own small part to provide a new and renewable source of electricity.
And using the same nanotechnology, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have also generated electrical current from a tapping finger – moving the users of BlackBerry devices, cell phones and other handhelds one step closer to powering them with their own typing.
"Using nanotechnology, we have demonstrated ways to convert even irregular biomechanical energy into electricity," said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regent's professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. "This technology can convert any mechanical disturbance into electrical energy."
The demonstrations of harnessing biomechanical energy to produce electricity were reported February 11 in the online version of the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters.
The study demonstrates that nanogenerators – which Wang's team has been developing since 2005 – can be driven by irregular mechanical motion, such as the vibration of vocal cords, flapping of a flag in the breeze, tapping of fingers or hamsters running on exercise wheels. Scavenging such low-frequency energy from irregular motion is significant because much biomechanical energy is variable, unlike the regular mechanical motion used to generate most large-scale electricity today.
The nanogenerator power is produced by the piezoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which certain materials – such as zinc oxide wires – produce electrical charges when they are bent and then relaxed. The wires are between 100 and 800 nanometers in diameter, and between 100 and 500 microns in length.
To make their generators, Wang's research team encapsulated single zinc oxide wires in a flexible polymer substrate, the wires anchored at each end with an electrical contact, and with a Shottky Barrier at one end to control current flow. They then attached one of these single-wire generators to the joint area of an index finger, or combined four of the single-wire devices on a "yellow jacket" worn by the hamster.
The running and scratching of the hamster – and the tapping of the finger – flexed the substrate in which the nanowires were encapsulated, producing tiny amounts of alternating electrical current. Integrating four nanogenerators on the hamster's jacket generated up to up to 0.5 nanoamps; less current was produced by the single generator on the finger.
Wang estimates that powering a handheld device such as a Bluetooth headset would require at least thousands of these single-wire generators, which could be built up in three-dimensional modules.
Beyond the finger-tapping and hamster-running, Wang believe his modules could be implanted into the body to harvest energy from such sources as muscle movements or pulsating blood vessels. In the body, they could be used to power nanodevices to measure blood pressure or other vital signs.
Because the devices produce alternating current, synchronizing the four generators on the hamster's back was vital to maximizing current production. Without the synchronization, current flow from one generator could cancel out the flow from another.
The research team – which also included Rusen Yang, Yong Qin, Cheng Li and Guang Zhu – solved that problem by using a substrate that was flexible in only one direction, forcing the generators to flex together. Still, there was substantial variation in the output from each generator. The differences result from variations in the amount of flexing and from inconsistencies in the hand-built devices.
"The nanogenerators have to be synchronized, with the output of all of them coordinated so the current adds up constructively," Wang noted. "Through engineering, we would expect this can be resolved in the future through improved design and more consistent manufacturing."
To ensure that the current measured was actually produced by the generators, the researchers took several precautions. For instance, they substituted carbon fibers – which are not piezoelectric – for the zinc oxide nanowires and measured no output electrical signal.
The research team encountered a number of obstacles related to its four-legged subjects. Wang's team first tried to outfit a rat with the power-generating jacket, but found that the creature wasn't very interested in running.
At the suggestion of Wang's daughter, Melissa, the researchers found that hamsters are more active creatures – but only after 11 p.m. They had to experiment with a jacket configuration that was tight enough to stay on and to wrinkle the nanogenerator substrate – but not so tight as to make the hamster uncomfortable.
"We believe this is the first demonstration of using a live animal to produce current with nanogenerators," Wang added. "This study shows that we really can harness human or animal motion to generate current."
The research was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force, and the Emory-Georgia Tech Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.
And using the same nanotechnology, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have also generated electrical current from a tapping finger – moving the users of BlackBerry devices, cell phones and other handhelds one step closer to powering them with their own typing.
"Using nanotechnology, we have demonstrated ways to convert even irregular biomechanical energy into electricity," said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regent's professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. "This technology can convert any mechanical disturbance into electrical energy."
The demonstrations of harnessing biomechanical energy to produce electricity were reported February 11 in the online version of the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters.
The study demonstrates that nanogenerators – which Wang's team has been developing since 2005 – can be driven by irregular mechanical motion, such as the vibration of vocal cords, flapping of a flag in the breeze, tapping of fingers or hamsters running on exercise wheels. Scavenging such low-frequency energy from irregular motion is significant because much biomechanical energy is variable, unlike the regular mechanical motion used to generate most large-scale electricity today.
The nanogenerator power is produced by the piezoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which certain materials – such as zinc oxide wires – produce electrical charges when they are bent and then relaxed. The wires are between 100 and 800 nanometers in diameter, and between 100 and 500 microns in length.
To make their generators, Wang's research team encapsulated single zinc oxide wires in a flexible polymer substrate, the wires anchored at each end with an electrical contact, and with a Shottky Barrier at one end to control current flow. They then attached one of these single-wire generators to the joint area of an index finger, or combined four of the single-wire devices on a "yellow jacket" worn by the hamster.
The running and scratching of the hamster – and the tapping of the finger – flexed the substrate in which the nanowires were encapsulated, producing tiny amounts of alternating electrical current. Integrating four nanogenerators on the hamster's jacket generated up to up to 0.5 nanoamps; less current was produced by the single generator on the finger.
Wang estimates that powering a handheld device such as a Bluetooth headset would require at least thousands of these single-wire generators, which could be built up in three-dimensional modules.
Beyond the finger-tapping and hamster-running, Wang believe his modules could be implanted into the body to harvest energy from such sources as muscle movements or pulsating blood vessels. In the body, they could be used to power nanodevices to measure blood pressure or other vital signs.
Because the devices produce alternating current, synchronizing the four generators on the hamster's back was vital to maximizing current production. Without the synchronization, current flow from one generator could cancel out the flow from another.
The research team – which also included Rusen Yang, Yong Qin, Cheng Li and Guang Zhu – solved that problem by using a substrate that was flexible in only one direction, forcing the generators to flex together. Still, there was substantial variation in the output from each generator. The differences result from variations in the amount of flexing and from inconsistencies in the hand-built devices.
"The nanogenerators have to be synchronized, with the output of all of them coordinated so the current adds up constructively," Wang noted. "Through engineering, we would expect this can be resolved in the future through improved design and more consistent manufacturing."
To ensure that the current measured was actually produced by the generators, the researchers took several precautions. For instance, they substituted carbon fibers – which are not piezoelectric – for the zinc oxide nanowires and measured no output electrical signal.
The research team encountered a number of obstacles related to its four-legged subjects. Wang's team first tried to outfit a rat with the power-generating jacket, but found that the creature wasn't very interested in running.
At the suggestion of Wang's daughter, Melissa, the researchers found that hamsters are more active creatures – but only after 11 p.m. They had to experiment with a jacket configuration that was tight enough to stay on and to wrinkle the nanogenerator substrate – but not so tight as to make the hamster uncomfortable.
"We believe this is the first demonstration of using a live animal to produce current with nanogenerators," Wang added. "This study shows that we really can harness human or animal motion to generate current."
The research was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force, and the Emory-Georgia Tech Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.
BP Solar Contract With Comverge
EAST HANOVER, N.J., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Comverge, Inc. (Nasdaq: COMV), a leading provider of smart grid demand response and energy efficiency solutions, announced today that BP Solar has selected Comverge to develop data acquisition and deployment solutions using Comverge's recently announced Apollo(R) integrated demand response platform, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) enabling technology, and information command center technology. The award is part of BP Solar's DOE sponsored project known as Solar America Initiative: "Reaching Grid Parity Using BP Solar Crystalline Silicon Technology".
The new contract with BP Solar calls for Comverge to integrate its advanced metering infrastructure technology utilizing its advanced PowerPortal(R) In-Home Display. Developing interfaces that provide solar production and other system information, BP Solar will have the option to integrate demand response using ZigBee(R) enabled intelligent thermostats and digital control units. Onsite systems data will be acquired and communicated offsite for performance monitoring, control, utility and customer information portals.
Robert M. Chiste, chairman, president and CEO of Comverge said, "We are pleased to be chosen by BP Solar for this important development initiative. We believe that the selection of Comverge is tangible recognition of the value of our integrated clean energy AMI enabled and solar power solutions, including our recently announced Apollo Platform(R) and PowerPortal In-Home Display." Mr. Chiste continued, "It is becoming generally recognized that, because of the uneven nature of solar and wind generation, demand response programs can act in concert with these alternative energy supplies to 'level' capacity. This relationship with BP Solar is an important step in Comverge's strategy to facilitate the integration of alternative energy solutions as part of the nation's drive toward energy independence."
The new contract with BP Solar calls for Comverge to integrate its advanced metering infrastructure technology utilizing its advanced PowerPortal(R) In-Home Display. Developing interfaces that provide solar production and other system information, BP Solar will have the option to integrate demand response using ZigBee(R) enabled intelligent thermostats and digital control units. Onsite systems data will be acquired and communicated offsite for performance monitoring, control, utility and customer information portals.
Robert M. Chiste, chairman, president and CEO of Comverge said, "We are pleased to be chosen by BP Solar for this important development initiative. We believe that the selection of Comverge is tangible recognition of the value of our integrated clean energy AMI enabled and solar power solutions, including our recently announced Apollo Platform(R) and PowerPortal In-Home Display." Mr. Chiste continued, "It is becoming generally recognized that, because of the uneven nature of solar and wind generation, demand response programs can act in concert with these alternative energy supplies to 'level' capacity. This relationship with BP Solar is an important step in Comverge's strategy to facilitate the integration of alternative energy solutions as part of the nation's drive toward energy independence."
Thursday, January 22, 2009
More Biomass Could Mean More Fuel
ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2009) — Microbes may well be the answer to our global energy crisis. By fermenting biomass to produce biofuels, they offer a possible climate-friendly solution to the anticipated shortfall in fossil fuel supply. A review by Professor Arnold Demain from Drew University in New Jersey, USA, on how microbes could be used to salvage the energy crisis has just been published online Springer’s Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology.
According to Professor Demain, the petroleum-based economy in the US is getting close to the end of its lifecycle. Global oil reserves and new petroleum discoveries will not be enough to meet the annual demand worldwide. It is therefore essential to anticipate and avoid any shortfall in future supply and to provide access to new bioenergy alternatives for the marketplace.
In the context of a strong global political and economical debate on the gradual substitution of petroleum by renewable alternatives such as biofuels, Demain reviews how microbes can help solve the energy problem, and focuses on the organisms that ferment lignocellulosic biomass to produce bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel and biohydrocarbons in particular. His review also highlights how the use of these biofuels would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plants that produce the biomass remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as part of their growth and normal metabolism.
Demain also highlights a number of important commercial developments, including the establishment of biotechnology companies in the biofuel sector since 2006, either alone or with companies of the petroleum and chemical industries. In addition, there have been a number of U.S. Government initiatives pushing for and backing the development of biofuels.
Demain concludes that:
“What remains is a major effort and challenge to biochemical engineering at the many new plants being built for biofuel production. The new processes have to be scaled up and carried out in a cost-effective way. The future of biofuels looks very bright…the best is yet to come.”
According to Professor Demain, the petroleum-based economy in the US is getting close to the end of its lifecycle. Global oil reserves and new petroleum discoveries will not be enough to meet the annual demand worldwide. It is therefore essential to anticipate and avoid any shortfall in future supply and to provide access to new bioenergy alternatives for the marketplace.
In the context of a strong global political and economical debate on the gradual substitution of petroleum by renewable alternatives such as biofuels, Demain reviews how microbes can help solve the energy problem, and focuses on the organisms that ferment lignocellulosic biomass to produce bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel and biohydrocarbons in particular. His review also highlights how the use of these biofuels would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plants that produce the biomass remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as part of their growth and normal metabolism.
Demain also highlights a number of important commercial developments, including the establishment of biotechnology companies in the biofuel sector since 2006, either alone or with companies of the petroleum and chemical industries. In addition, there have been a number of U.S. Government initiatives pushing for and backing the development of biofuels.
Demain concludes that:
“What remains is a major effort and challenge to biochemical engineering at the many new plants being built for biofuel production. The new processes have to be scaled up and carried out in a cost-effective way. The future of biofuels looks very bright…the best is yet to come.”
Reducing Carbon Emission To Reduce Costs
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2009) — The least cost way to reduce power related carbon emissions in Europe would be to supplement the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) with the introduction of Emissions Performance Standards for energy, according to a new study.
Such a system, successfully used in some US States where it has helped put renewable energy on a more equal footing with traditional energy sources, could cut the EU power sector’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 by more than two-thirds – more than 800 million tonnes per year.
'Scenarios on the Introduction of CO2 Emission Performance Standards for the EU Power Sector', carried out by the consultancy Ecofys for environmental groups WWF, Bellona Europa, ClientEarth, E3G and Green Alliance, says such an outcome could be achieved if binding emissions limits are introduced for all large power stations in the EU on a staged basis between 2010 to 2020.
The study also shows that an early phase-in of Emissions Performance Standards (EPS) would be more cost-effective and have greater impacts than a delayed introduction. It would overcome some weaknesses of the ETS, which has been criticised for providing some of Europe’s heaviest polluters with windfall profits as a result of governments giving away rather than auctioning carbon emission permits.
“The current EU Emissions Trading Scheme unfortunately does not prevent high polluting coal-fired power stations from being built,” said Stephan Singer, Director of WWF’s Global Energy Programme.
“We need new emissions limits to ensure Europe invests only in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and CO2 capture and storage facilities for coal-fired power stations. Otherwise, Europe will fail to deliver its contribution to keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.”
A CO2 Emissions Performance Standard is a limit on emissions per unit of energy output. EPS in the power sector has been in place in California, US since 2007 and has subsequently been introduced by Oregon, Washington State and Montana.
All of these states are part of the Western Climate Initiative, formed with the aim of cooperating on the introduction and operation of cap and trade-systems, and the report stated there was a clear indication that the fruitful co-existence of EPS and ETS (Emissions Trading System) schemes was considered feasible.
In general it was found that EPS schemes were implemented successfully, especially if the right framework conditions were created, by helping operators to bear the costs of EPS compliance through incentivizing legislation (taxation related). In the EU this could also be supported by a more stringent EU-ETS with higher certificate prices.
With such a limit, new power plants that cannot meet the standard would not be built and existing power plants that do not plan to upgrade pollution controls or implement equivalent measures would close down.
Utilities will have clear incentives to invest in energy efficiency measures, equip their new plants or retrofit the existing ones with CO2 capture and storage, or switch to renewable sources of energy.
The study clearly shows that an Emission Performance Standard needs to be phased in through stages for both new and existing plants. Imposing a very demanding limit of 150g CO2 / kWh just on new plants from 2010 would deliver reductions of 10 per cent of power sector greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, while a staged introduction of a less stringent 350g standard for new plants from 2010, extended to existing plants by 2015, could save up to 46 per cent of power sector emissions by 2020.
In contrast to continuing to allow construction of new conventional fossil fuel power stations under the guise of 'capture readiness', an Emissions Performance Standard is an effective means of providing the real regulatory certainty needed to shift investment decisions in the power sector, and avoid dangerous lock-in to high carbon power infrastructure.
It will also be key to move Europe’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 20 per cent to 30 per cent as soon as a new international agreement is in place
Such a system, successfully used in some US States where it has helped put renewable energy on a more equal footing with traditional energy sources, could cut the EU power sector’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 by more than two-thirds – more than 800 million tonnes per year.
'Scenarios on the Introduction of CO2 Emission Performance Standards for the EU Power Sector', carried out by the consultancy Ecofys for environmental groups WWF, Bellona Europa, ClientEarth, E3G and Green Alliance, says such an outcome could be achieved if binding emissions limits are introduced for all large power stations in the EU on a staged basis between 2010 to 2020.
The study also shows that an early phase-in of Emissions Performance Standards (EPS) would be more cost-effective and have greater impacts than a delayed introduction. It would overcome some weaknesses of the ETS, which has been criticised for providing some of Europe’s heaviest polluters with windfall profits as a result of governments giving away rather than auctioning carbon emission permits.
“The current EU Emissions Trading Scheme unfortunately does not prevent high polluting coal-fired power stations from being built,” said Stephan Singer, Director of WWF’s Global Energy Programme.
“We need new emissions limits to ensure Europe invests only in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and CO2 capture and storage facilities for coal-fired power stations. Otherwise, Europe will fail to deliver its contribution to keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.”
A CO2 Emissions Performance Standard is a limit on emissions per unit of energy output. EPS in the power sector has been in place in California, US since 2007 and has subsequently been introduced by Oregon, Washington State and Montana.
All of these states are part of the Western Climate Initiative, formed with the aim of cooperating on the introduction and operation of cap and trade-systems, and the report stated there was a clear indication that the fruitful co-existence of EPS and ETS (Emissions Trading System) schemes was considered feasible.
In general it was found that EPS schemes were implemented successfully, especially if the right framework conditions were created, by helping operators to bear the costs of EPS compliance through incentivizing legislation (taxation related). In the EU this could also be supported by a more stringent EU-ETS with higher certificate prices.
With such a limit, new power plants that cannot meet the standard would not be built and existing power plants that do not plan to upgrade pollution controls or implement equivalent measures would close down.
Utilities will have clear incentives to invest in energy efficiency measures, equip their new plants or retrofit the existing ones with CO2 capture and storage, or switch to renewable sources of energy.
The study clearly shows that an Emission Performance Standard needs to be phased in through stages for both new and existing plants. Imposing a very demanding limit of 150g CO2 / kWh just on new plants from 2010 would deliver reductions of 10 per cent of power sector greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, while a staged introduction of a less stringent 350g standard for new plants from 2010, extended to existing plants by 2015, could save up to 46 per cent of power sector emissions by 2020.
In contrast to continuing to allow construction of new conventional fossil fuel power stations under the guise of 'capture readiness', an Emissions Performance Standard is an effective means of providing the real regulatory certainty needed to shift investment decisions in the power sector, and avoid dangerous lock-in to high carbon power infrastructure.
It will also be key to move Europe’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 20 per cent to 30 per cent as soon as a new international agreement is in place
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Are Solar Cells Becoming More Simplified?
ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2008) — Currently, solar cells are difficult to handle, expensive to purchase and complicated to install. The hope is that consumers will one day be able to buy solar cells from their local hardware store and simply hang them like posters on a wall.
A new study by researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has shown that the dream is one step closer to reality. Reporting in the Nov. 26 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Yang Yang, a professor of materials science and engineering, and colleagues describe the design and synthesis of a new polymer, or plastic, for use in solar cells that has significantly greater sunlight absorption and conversion capabilities than previous polymers.
The research team found that substituting a silicon atom for carbon atom in the backbone of the polymer markedly improved the material's photovoltaic properties. This silole-containing polymer can also be crystalline, giving it great potential as an ingredient for high-efficiency solar cells.
"With the reality of today's energy crisis, a new-game changing technology is required to make solar cells more popular," Yang said. "We hope that our newly synthesized polymer can eventually be used on solar cells far beyond their current rooftop applications. Imagine a house or car covered and powered by flexible solar films. Our dream is to see solar cells used everywhere."
Polymers are lightweight, low-cost plastics used in packaging materials and inexpensive products like insulators, pipes, household products and toys. Polymer solar cells utilize organic compounds to produce electricity from sunlight. They are much cheaper to produce than traditional silicon-based solar cells and are also environmentally friendly.
But while polymer solar cells have been around for several years, their efficiency has, until recently, been low. The new polymer created by Yang's team reached 5.1 percent efficiency in the published study but has in a few months improved to 5.6 percent in the lab. Yang and his team have proven that the photovoltaic material they use on their solar cells is one of the most efficient based on a single-layer, low-band-gap polymer.
At a lower band gap, the polymer solar cell can better utilize the solar spectrum, thereby absorbing more sunlight. At a higher band gap, light is not easily absorbed and can be wasted.
"Previously, the synthesizing process for the polymer was very complicated. We've been able to simplify the process and make it much easier to mass produce," said Jianhui Hou, UCLA postdoctoral researcher and co-author of the study. "Though this is a milestone achievement, we will continue to work on improving the materials. Ideally we'd like to push the performance of the solar cell to higher than 10 percent efficiency. We know the potential is there."
"We hope that solar cells will one day be as thin as paper and can be attached to the surface of your choice," added co-author Hsiang-Yu Chen, a UCLA graduate student in engineering. "We'll also be able to create different colors to match different applications."
The study was funded by Solarmer Energy Inc. and a UC Discovery Grant. Solarmer Energy Inc. has recently licensed the technology from UCLA for commercialization.
A new study by researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has shown that the dream is one step closer to reality. Reporting in the Nov. 26 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Yang Yang, a professor of materials science and engineering, and colleagues describe the design and synthesis of a new polymer, or plastic, for use in solar cells that has significantly greater sunlight absorption and conversion capabilities than previous polymers.
The research team found that substituting a silicon atom for carbon atom in the backbone of the polymer markedly improved the material's photovoltaic properties. This silole-containing polymer can also be crystalline, giving it great potential as an ingredient for high-efficiency solar cells.
"With the reality of today's energy crisis, a new-game changing technology is required to make solar cells more popular," Yang said. "We hope that our newly synthesized polymer can eventually be used on solar cells far beyond their current rooftop applications. Imagine a house or car covered and powered by flexible solar films. Our dream is to see solar cells used everywhere."
Polymers are lightweight, low-cost plastics used in packaging materials and inexpensive products like insulators, pipes, household products and toys. Polymer solar cells utilize organic compounds to produce electricity from sunlight. They are much cheaper to produce than traditional silicon-based solar cells and are also environmentally friendly.
But while polymer solar cells have been around for several years, their efficiency has, until recently, been low. The new polymer created by Yang's team reached 5.1 percent efficiency in the published study but has in a few months improved to 5.6 percent in the lab. Yang and his team have proven that the photovoltaic material they use on their solar cells is one of the most efficient based on a single-layer, low-band-gap polymer.
At a lower band gap, the polymer solar cell can better utilize the solar spectrum, thereby absorbing more sunlight. At a higher band gap, light is not easily absorbed and can be wasted.
"Previously, the synthesizing process for the polymer was very complicated. We've been able to simplify the process and make it much easier to mass produce," said Jianhui Hou, UCLA postdoctoral researcher and co-author of the study. "Though this is a milestone achievement, we will continue to work on improving the materials. Ideally we'd like to push the performance of the solar cell to higher than 10 percent efficiency. We know the potential is there."
"We hope that solar cells will one day be as thin as paper and can be attached to the surface of your choice," added co-author Hsiang-Yu Chen, a UCLA graduate student in engineering. "We'll also be able to create different colors to match different applications."
The study was funded by Solarmer Energy Inc. and a UC Discovery Grant. Solarmer Energy Inc. has recently licensed the technology from UCLA for commercialization.
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