October 2008 Archives

A farm in the mystic town of Amesbury, famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, has received recognition from the government for a unique feat. Cider Hill, owned by the Cook family has managed to make a gradual shift towards renewable energy by installing three wind turbines and three solar panels on their farm. Around 20 percent of their electricity is generated through renewable means.
They have taken advantage of the rebates that the government has announced for such projects and have also received grants from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative alternative-energy grant and from Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resource's Agricultural Environmental Enhancement Program to set up their turbines and solar panels respectively.
The government is impressed with the Cook family’s efforts and the Secretary of Environmental Affairs, Ian Bowles, who visited the farm referred to it as a leader in the state.

Pic courtesy LuluP/ Lucille Pine from flickr.com

The World’s largest oil companies are raking in huge profits owing to the rise in oil prices. Their windfall gain has come at a time when even their production has come down. While Royal Dutch Shell recorded a third quarter profit of $10.9 billion up 71 percent, Exxon Mobil broke its own record for the biggest quarterly profits in the US by earning $14.8 billion up 58 percent, despite an 8 percent decline in production. BP recently declared a profit growth of 148 percent which prompted Gordon Brown into stating that a reduction of oil prices in oil pumps was needed after the reduction of oil prices globally.
Such profits prompt the public to call for the creation of windfall tax that applies a tax on the huge profits companies make in inflated markets. The companies claim however that all their profits get invested back into their businesses and that their huge profits also imply that they have to pay very large taxes on their income hence a windfall tax in unnecessary.
To read the complete article click here.

AGL Energy, Australia’s largest power and gas retailer is leaving Papua New Guinea after selling all its assets in the country to an unknown international buyer for $1.16 billion.
This decision comes after the sale of 22 percent of their stake in Queensland Gas Company to a British company for $1.18 billion.
The current condition of global markets may have prompted AGL to take this action.
To read the complete article click here.

The Australian government is predicting a boom in work related to environment conservation also known as green- collar work. Renewable power industries are growing, more and more people are opting for cleaner technology from the production of household energy to their cars.
The government estimates that in the coming years, half a million new jobs could be created in the renewable energy sector. Australia wants to take advantage of this trend to prevent their economy from lagging behind.
To read the whole article click here.

In a move to encourage small producers of renewable power, Britain is planning to guarantee a price premium to them from 2010. The government included these proposals in amendments tabled Wednesday to an energy bill that if approved will become law by December.
The plan would involve supporting small power generating projects such as the installation of solar panels or wind turbines to generate electricity on the property of a household. They would earn a tariff for supplying energy to the national grid.
To read the complete article click here.

Pic courtesy nowpicnic/kathy from flickr.com

Raza Bashir Tarar, the Pakistani delegate to the United Nations General Assembly recently stressed on the importance of evolving a universal and non discriminatory policy towards nuclear energy. At the recent conference in New York, Tarar also stated that a non- discriminatory approach for the promotion of civil nuclear cooperation was required as it would reinforce confidence and credibility in the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards system. As a solution Tarar said that the agency could make a big difference in helping countries meet the energy needs of this century by ensuring equitable access to nuclear materials, technology and equipment. Tarar was careful in stressing that the nuclear energy would only be used for peaceful purposes drawing the attention of members to Pakistan’s immaculate record of safeguards as well as their commitment to non proliferation.
After India’s nuclear agreement with America, Pakistan, its neighbor, is all the more keen to initiate a nuclear agreement for the development of its own country. However, with the increase in terrorist activity in some of the regions of Pakistan, it may prove to be an uphill task for its diplomats to convince the UN or the IAEA of the safety of civilian nuclear instalments in their country.

The owner of Western Europe’s largest coal- fired power station, Drax, announced a plan to make a £2 billion investment in renewable energy in order to diversify its business and exploit government subsidies. As a part of its plan, it will build 300MW power plants that would burn biomass consisting of energy crops and agricultural and forestry waste. Partnering with Siemens of Germany, Drax will own 60 percent of the project and operate the plants while Siemens will own 40 percent and provide the technology.
Drax, which is regarded as UK’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide could become one of its biggest sources of renewable energy if their project proceeds according to plan.
To learn about the details of the project read the complete article here.

Pic of Drax power station, UK, courtesy Gareth Davies/ yorkshiregeek from flickr.com

The largest power company of the US, the Tennessee Valley Authority has signed a ten-year strategic agreement with GE Digital Energy to monitor and protect their power systems from failures and outages. The agreement is said to be worth around $15 million.
The agreement with GE Digital Energy is for the use of their Multilin Universal Relay (UR) product for the protection of existing and future substations of TVA.
TVA selected Multilin UR products after a rigorous evaluation of all the global protection and control vendors.
To read the whole article click here.

Turkey and Iran may resolve their energy differences come this November with a new deal that proposes to create a production accord to invest in the development of Iran’s natural gas reserves in their South Pars field.
Turkey was earlier opposed to the creation of a pipeline that would transfer gas from Iran to Europe. Under the new agreement, Turkey’s state owned petroleum company TPAO would explore Iran’s South Pars field and transfer gas to Turkey for consumption and re- export to European markets.
The United States is against the deal as it seeks to isolate Iran over its nuclear program.  

Japan may have lent support to the Inited States- India civil nuclear initiative at the IAEA and NSG conferences but that does not indicate their willingness to start any form of nuclear cooperation with India.
For its part, the Indian government is just thankful that Japan lent them support when the nuclear deal was put to vote at the IAEA and the NSG.

According to the American Wind Energy Association a 164 MW NedPower Mount Storm project in Grant County has more than tripled West Virginia’s wind energy capacity. With the addition of this project a trade group is crediting W. Va as being the fastest growing state for wind energy production.

A second phase of the project that is set to complete this year will add 100 more MW of capacity to the plant.

The trade group also says that the US has completed projects amounting to 4,204 MW so far this year.

Pic courtesy NNECAPA from flickr.com

190 million federal acres of land in the United States are set to be allocated for the creation of geothermal energy so as to boost their domestic energy output. This decision, taken by the interior department of the government is heartening to note as it shows a clear shift towards harnessing renewable sources of energy with minimum carbon emissions for the clean creation of energy in the future. The plans are in their final stage and if implemented well, could provide energy to more than 5.5 million homes in just seven years.
The area to be allocated for this project also includes 18 areas of Utah which already has two geothermal plants in its south-western quadrant.
Following Hawii’s decision to gradually shift towards renewable sources of energy, this decision is certainly a positive move forward towards curbing the ever growing threat of global warming.
To learn the details of the project, check out the complete article here.

Pic courtesy WorldIslandInfo from flickr.com

Green Gas Americas Inc., recently announced that their USA based gas-to-energy project had begun operations on 6 October 2008. Their project proposes to use gas from their Pioneer Crossing landfill located in Exeter Township in Pennsylvania, USA, which would normally be lost through flaring, to build a source of clean energy that would benefit the local community and the environment. The project has a 6.4 MW capacity and the current operating permits allow around 50 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy to be generated annually.
The construction of the plant began in January 2008 and it is now one of the largest landfill projects in Pennsylvania. At the moment only part of the gas resource at the facility if being used. The company is applying for further permits to access the rest of the available gas which would enable the renewable energy generating capacity to be doubled.
Green Gas is also working with Mascaro to develop further such projects at their Broke County (West Virginia) and White Pines (Pennsylvania) landfills.

Pic courtesy John Carney from flickr.com

With the pace of global growth slowing down, people are worried about the demand of oil falling. This has led to a further decrease in oil prices on Wednesday. The promise of output cuts by OPEC has been outweighed by what traders perceive to be a  fall in demand for oil. Besides, traders feel that any cuts implemented now will take a few months to have any impact on the market.

The fall in prices are beginning to alarm OPEC nations, several of whom depend on oil for most of their revenue.

To read the complete article click here.

A milestone in the World’s evolution towards complete independence from fossil fuels was reached by Hawaii this week when it decided to phase out the use of fossil fuels as an energy source. Hawaii's largest utility has signed on to a plan that aims at creating 70 percent of the island’s energy from clean sources by 2030. Under the latest agreement, Hawaiian Electric Co. will cease the construction of any new coal plants. They have also committed to integrating up to 1,100 MW of renewable energy into the island’s power grid and to converting existing fossil fuel generators into biofuels with the help of locally grown crops. Some of their more ambitious plans i.e. to build expensive undersea power cables to transport wind energy between islands, require a lot of funding. Officials don’t know where they will get their funds from but they are committed to reaching their goal.

To read more click here.

Pic1 courtesy Cougar-Studio from flickr.com

Pic2 courtesy itsbooyer from flickr.com

Taking advantage of a 55 percent drop in the share prices of NRG Energy Inc, Exelon has made an offer to buy the company for $6.2 billion. One of the biggest operators of nuclear facilities in the U.S, Excelon will pay $26.43 for each NRG Energy share. NRG has said that it will review the bid and has urged it's shareholders not to take any drastic action.

To read the original article on bloomberg.com click here.

Pic courtesy Toucanradio on flickr.com

Palm oil may well become a viable energy option as well as find new industrial uses according to Dorab Mistry, director of Godrej International, India. The use of this oil as an energy source has been restricted owing to concern of its effect on the environment. Once a certified sample is produced, we could be on our way to solving our energy crisis as well as addressing environmental issues.

A more environment friendly option, palm oil produces biodegradable oleochemicals replacing harmful petrochemicals in its use as a bio- fuel. Palm oil would give the World energy security through bio- fuel use and could create a whole new market  in the near future.

At present the cost of producing one tonne of palm oil is $350 which is quite profitable. Although costs could decline with a decline in the cost of fertilizers and the price of land.

Pic courtesy Geoff Leeming on flickr.com

Revving up the pace of the green movement slowly gathering momentum around the world, BMW has announced that they are set to test their battery powered automobile titled MINI E, which will be made available for lease to select fleets and private owners in California, New York and New Jersey.  The car, which is in production in Oxford, England and Munich, Germany, will give its world premier at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 19 and 20, 2008.
To read more about the car click here.

Pic courtesy Paul Mullett on flickr.com

The center of the earth can be at a temperature in the range of 12000 degrees Fahrenheit. The concept of geothermal power is to tap this heat.

Convection currents travel quite near the surface of the earth in some places. For example, the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik is practically powered by hot springs.

Read more about the theories, advantages and disadvantages related to geothermal power generation here.

In various discussions around energy consumption, we often overlook the fact that most production methods involve fresh water, itself a dwindling resource.

A professor and student at Virginia Tech are researching the water efficiency of some of the common methods of generating power. They have analyzed 11 types of energy sources, including coal, fuel ethanol, natural gas and oil, and also five different power generating methods. These methods include hydroelectric, fossil fuel thermoelectric and nuclear.

The research found that the most water efficient energy sources are natural gas and synthetic fuels produced by coal gasification. The least water efficient energy sources are fuel ethanol and biodiesel.

Pic courtesy Grendelkhan on www.flickr.com

An article on knowledge@wharton says that the progress made by electricity generating wind turbine technology in the US is influenced greatly by the know-how brought in by European companies.

This article gives a number of examples to show how European companies are moving in to fill the opportunities created by the United States' increasing interest in alternate energy.

Some of the companies with large projects include Danish firm Vestas Wind Systems, Spanish firms Iberdrola, Acciona and Gamesa and German firms Fuhrlander, Nordek and Siemens.

US policy has so far extended a Production Tax Credit, or PTC, on electricity generation from wind, making it competitive with conventional power such as coal. Technologically advanced wind turbines produce electricity at a cost of about five cents per kilowatt-hour, comparable to a coal plant. But the initial investments required to build the wind-power generating facilities are in millions of dollars, and government encouragement by way of tax credits has not been steady.

The Indian government has announced that the recent nuclear cooperation agreement with USA will add 40,000 MW of nuclear power by the year 2020. The government plans to increase the per capita availability of electricity to 1000 units by the year 2012.

A minister of the government said that there are plans to reduce the energy intensity of the economy by changes in the regulatory framework and by adopting best practice programs.

At the opening of a wind power plant, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said that the consumption of energy is steadily increasing and for the progress of manking, new technology needs to be harnessed for energy sources.

He said that wind power is both non polluting and renewable, making it one of the best sources of energy.

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is best known as the type of alcohol   found in alcoholic beverages and in thermometers. Commonly referred to simply as alcohol, its chemical formula is (C₂H₅) .The ethanol fuel used as a bio-fuel option to gasoline used in cars. This because it can be easily made from crops such as corn and sugarcane. The main advantages of producing and using ethanol is that of value addition to the agricultural industry and products, and increasing the financial strength. Besides, it also reduces the harmful emissions and decreases the thirst for transportation fuel required by the world, making it a very cost-effective option.

For detailed information click here