Novel Approach To Generating Hydrogen Gas

Recent research has shown that hydrogen could be generated from water using modified semiconductor material. A great article in Science Daily the potential for an easier, cheaper process for generating hydrogen gas via recent experiments conducted jointly between University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. Using this modified material Solar energy was able to split water molecules to hydrogen and oxygen. This gallium nitrade antimony hybrid alloy is relatively inexpensive to produce making it a good contender for generating energy by splitting water molecules.

Potential New Design for Wind Farms

A few weeks back Science Daily had a good article a few weeks back on improved wind farm designs. Typically wind farms are designed so that each turbine is spaced a certain distance apart from each other. Research over 30 years ago had provided those guidelines but the California Institute of Technology has done some new research and it may show that placing the turbines closer together may provide overall system gains. This would significantly help in the development of wind farms as the current line of thinking was that improvements would come from larger turbines. With these larger turbines the complexity of the projects has gone up as well the cost.

Recent Advances Move Solar Closer to Equaling Coal Costs

Mother Nature Network has a good blog article reviewing some recent improvements in Solar Panels that will help bring them closer to parity with coal costs. I don’t fully agree with the tone of the full article blaming recent cuts in government subsidies sounds more like sour grapes. I know in politics, especially in the USA, it has become increasingly popular to completely bemoan every decision politicians make. More of this is because of our over the top polarization currently at every level of government. Sorry for getting a little off topic but I always felt the best way to convince someone of your point of view is to make compelling arguments, not to belittle the other option. All it does in this case is give the other side reason to believe that without subsidies solar panels would not have made the advances they have over the past decade. It is like when I tell people I am vegetarian and they ask why and if I respond that eating meat is stupid I stand no chance to think about their the consequences of their actions.

Solar Stock Review – First Solar

Any news about the environment or environmental issues are always good to see in more mainstream publications. Today there is an article about First Solar and how two analysts think the stock will fair. I will start out by saying that I am not a financial expert, though I do follow the markets and understand what they are talking about, none of this is an endorsement to buy or sell any stock. I just think that looking at the long term analysis by investors of renewable energy sources help determine perception. If the large investors are all against a stock or sector in general they may have a lot of pull with government officials as to what companies or industries deserve subsidies.

New Canadian Government Program to Promote Renewable Energy

The Canadian Government started a new program called ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative.  The program will start with $97 million Canadian Dollars and fund research and development and other projects to help create jobs in the clean energy sector. 

“Canadians gave our Government a strong mandate to complete our economic recovery and focus on continued job growth,” said Minister Oliver, speaking in Toronto. “Support for clean energy technology is an effective way to both reduce emissions and create high-quality jobs for Canadians.”

These programs will promote jobs in the in technologies that will help reduce the carbon footprint of all Canadians.

Selected projects will focus on research, development and demonstration in five key areas: energy efficiency in buildings, communities, industry and transportation; clean electricity and renewables; bioenergy; research and development of electric vehicles; and unconventional oil and gas.

With these efforts will help lead Canada to a greener future.

Geothermal Home Heat Pumps and Energy Systems

In the USA the most popular of geothermal energy is the use of heat pumps. Geothermal is essentially extracting using air pumped through pipes in the earth. For heat pumps or heat exchange systems these can be as little as 6 feet under the earth’s surface. When used to generate electricity they are typically over 1,500 feet into the earth. The reason for heat pumps to so shallow is that the air temperature just a few feet below the surface typically stays in tight temperature range between 50F and 60 F or 10C and 16 C. This is very similar to why caves are always so cold. When used to generate electricity the deeper distance have a much hotter temperature.

Local Solar Power for Farming

In rural parts of the world where the power grid may be many miles away there is still a need for electricity.  These areas sometimes are more agricultural and rely on heavy machinery to do the work.  A great example of limiting the use of a diesel generator for a tracking solar array can be found here in German or reprinted here in English. The brilliance of this is in areas with lots of steady sunlight like the example in Egypt the use Solar panels without battery backups.  The power generated is then used to pump water from a well and fill the irrigation reservoir.  The reservoir is then controlled to irrigate the fields as needed.  This is all controlled by tracking system which also controls the measuring sensors for the system.  Only a small battery is used to align the solar panel early in the morning.  This system provides for the farmers needs while helping reduce overall emissions from diesel generators.  The initial startup cost would be

Geothermal Power Plants May See Some Relief From Legislation

Good news for the geothermal industry in two bills that may ease regulations.  Currently the amount of projects started in the USA has stagnated.  This is due to two main reasons; the long permitting process and the cost of test drilling.  Slowly these two items might be alleviated for the industry as legislation seems to be moving forward.  A lot of geothermal projects take 4-8 years to come on line between permitting, test drills and other factors.  Limiting any of these delays could spur more development as companies stand to lose less time and money on a given project.  Currently the permitting process for each test well may be 15 months, if it takes multiple tests to get a well up and running the time between conception and production can be too long to bear for most companies. 

Solar Rulings in Missouri

In Missouri some good news came in over the last week for the solar industry. A lawsuit against rebates for solar installations was rejected. The judge whose ruling was that solar rebates were unconstitutional undid his earlier ruling. This will keep in place a $2 per watt rebate that was at the heart of the lawsuit. The Missouri Retail Accociation (MRA) filed the lawsuit on Ameren’s behalf. Their argument seemed to be that by providing incentives to customers to install solar power locally it was taking money away from Ameren. Read more about the initial lawsuit here.

Wind Power Research Center

Groundbreaking began in Ohio for Research and Development center for Wind Turbines. The hope for the facility is to design the equipment for the turbines. The facility will be 18,000 square feet and eventually employ 65 people. Timken is providing nearly half of the funding for the project with the rest coming from local and state jurisdictions in Ohio. With this new facility Timken will be able to adequately evaluate new designs while subjecting them to conditions seen in the field and make real time determinations as to how the parts are performing. This facility will be focused on gearbox systems for installation in wind turbines.