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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

A consortium of companies in Spain are planning to build a 15 MW turbine.  The turbine manufacturer Gamesa will lead the €25 million ‘Azimut’ project to build the 15 MW giant together with 11 other wind and engineering companies and 22 research centres, according to a report in Business Green. The Azimut project is expected to run for four years.

Meanwhile, the effort to build the Britannia 10MW offshore turbine seems to have been rescued from the brink of trouble.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I was going through some old blog posts here at 2GreenEnergy in an effort to make sure that we’re emphasizing the most important elements of the discussion on renewables.  One theme that is central to the conversation, of course, is the need to understand and account for the externalities of our current system of generating energy, based, as it is, more than 80% on fossil fuels.  For those looking for a solid but fairly high-level treatment of the subject, check out this marvelous summary: What’s The Real Cost of Fossil Fuels?

I understand the frustrations of those who say we’re about a million miles from a world that forces these costs onto the energy industry, but I point out that we may be closer that many people believe.  

When I interviewed James Woolsey (Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency from February 5, 1993 until January 10, 1995) for my book, he called my attention to Boyden Gray’s piece in the Texas Review of Law and Politics, putting the cost in damage to peoples’ health and medical costs total at approximately $250 billion a year from the aromatics.  It’s only a matter of time in this data-rich world in which we live before the we have complete quantification of each of the major externalities, forcing even the most unreasonable people to demand fairness here. (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I believe everyone should have a decent level of familiarity with this Wikipedia listing on the world energy scene, which provides a bit of top-level math.  As a civilization, we consume energy at the rate of 15 terawatts (15,000,000,000,000)– an estimated 80% – 90% of which comes from fossil fuels.  Thus, when we talk about a gigawatt solution — certainly nothing to sneeze at — we’re talking about something that provides 1/15,000th of the world’s energy.

Or, as I was explaining to my daughter just now, the total energy being consumed in the world is about 150 billion times the lighting in my office (about 100 watts).  She was utterly fascinated.  Yeah right — a bit of holiday humor for you there.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I notice that the Marriott hotel chain has instituted a sustainable seafood program called “Future Fish,” making it the first large player in the industry to make a move like this.  Brad Nelson, Marriott’s culinary vice president, notes “The guest is asking, more and more, what the fish is and where it’s coming from.”  By next month, Marriott’s 780 full-service hotels will be sourcing at least 50% of their seafood from certified sustainable and responsible fisheries and aquaculture farms. 

It’s unclear whether Marriott’s decision to go in this direction is self-driven, socially responsible action, or a response to consumer demand.  I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and besides: does it really matter?  The move to sustainability requires good leaders and good followers, and each of us plays a key role as both — sometimes pushing, other times pulling.

 

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy
Cape Wind plans are becoming reality. Source: www.capewind.org

 

The global offshore wind turbine market is expected to almost double this year after record growth last year, according to a report published in October by Danish consulting company MAKE. MAKE predicts the expansion will continue into 2015.

 

The decade-long struggle to approve and construct Cape Wind, the United States’ first offshore wind farm, looks to be reaching a successful conclusion. At the end of November, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a 15-year power purchase agreement for National Grid to purchase Cape Wind’s power and RECs. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has promised to fast-track future offshore wind projects in the same way that he has fast-tracked solar energy projects on public lands.

But just as the US makes small beginnings in offshore wind development, onshore developments seem to have fallen off a cliff. SNL Energy estimates that the power generation capacity of onshore wind energy projects in the first three quarters of 2010 was 64% down on the capacity that came online in the first three quarters of 2009.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

At this holiday season, while we’re all in such a festive and generous mood, it would be wrong of me not to mention The Turimiquire Foundation, by my wits the best bang for the buck you’ll ever find in terms of raw humanitarian horsepower.  Originally aimed at establishing sustainable agricultural practices with the community of subsistence farmers in Northeastern Venezuela, Turimiquire has branched out into family planning and education, helping hundreds of thousands of those most desperately in need, while doing a fantastic service to the planet in terms of maintaining a healthy, forested environment in that part of the world.  I know they’d appreiocate any contribution.

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Maybe this little sweetheart is asking Santa for peace and harmony in the human community.  Well, perhaps not. 

In any case, the season really is a time for reflection, and pondering the things we truly want. 

I’m always shocked when I hear someone remark, “Oh, let’s not try to achieve world peace,” as if that’s something unattainable to which only idiots aspire. 

Let me offer this holiday felicitation: We can have the world we want.  

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Efficiency

I had the good fortune to speak with my gradeschool friend Bruce Wilson the other day.  Bruce, a contractor in building energy efficiency, had found me online, and was clearly pleased that one of his classmates is involved with sustainable technologies.  Yet while I tend to be somewhat guarded in my optimism on the subject, Bruce is all over this.  “The world is swimming in opportunity,” he gushed as we spoke on the phone.  “There are dozens of mature, stable technologies that will bring an amazingly positive effect to the world of energy consumption and the problems associated with it.”

In fact, that seems to be what everyone is saying.  We’ll get to renewable energy in a big way over the coming decades.  But the easiest way to make a difference today is simply to use the tools at our disposal — largely summarized in the LEED standards — to cut energy consumption where we live and work. 

Bruce has promised to put up a few guest posts; I certainly look forward to seeing them.

 

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The results of political compromise — maybe by definition — are seldom satisfactory to anyone.  But hasn’t this whole process recently gotten worse than ever before?  The healthcare reform bill that the Obama administration put through was the product of a hammer and tongs fight from the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and the enormous money and power that they and their partners brought to the battle.  Supported by a political machine that benefited from convincing voters that the whole idea of reform was tantamount to socialism, the bill that was ultimately passed is an utter disappointment — and may ultimately fall apart for any number of reasons, one of which is as basic as a successful constitutional challenge.

Closer to my home in the energy sector, I have to say that cap and trade legislation is a similar sort of disaster in the making.  Anyone sincerely wanting to use the public sector to lead the way to a sustainable approach to energy has extremely clearcut tools at his disposal.  How about the simplicity of a carbon tax?  A feed-in tariff?  What’s the matter with just pulling the subsidies on oil?  If you really want clean energy, there are abundant and crystal clear ways to do it — instantly.   (more…)

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by Craig ShieldsPosted on Posted in Photovoltaics
Using diffuse light - the tower is virtually always operating. Source: Kilohn limahn, Creative Commons

The groundworks for the construction of the world’s first commercial solar updraft tower may be little more than two years away. Solar updraft towers use the power that lifts hot air balloons into the air to generate electricity.

The Australian company, EnviroMission has filed land applications in Arizona for two 5,500 acre sites, suitable for development of two 200MW Solar Updraft power stations. The company has negotiated a power purchase agreement, approved by the Southern California Public Power Authority. EnviroMission has appointed ARUP as its design engineer. The detailed design of the towers is expected to take between 9 months and a year, when EnvironMission will move to the financing stage. (more…)

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