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AMNE and FL Sales Company Expand Agreement to Include Infinite R
American Green Group, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: AMNE) (www.americangreegroup.com) announces it has a signed a licensing deal with Ecosafe Insulation of Florida, LLC (ECOFL) to market "Infinite R," in the State of Florida. AMNE would also like to remind shareholders Friday is the shareholder of record date as issued by FINRA for the 5 for 1 forward split. In order to receive the dividend, you must be a shareholder of record on the close of that day.
AMNE has granted ECOFL licenses in 5 of Florida's biggest counties to market Ecosafe Foam and felt it was a natural fit for ECOFL to market Infinite R at the same time. ECOFL has retained a local law firm to assist the company in getting the State of FL to recognize Infinite R as a standard building product. Miami-Dade County has the most stringent building codes in the Country. Once Infinite R is recognized as a standard in the building industry in FL, other States will accept Infinite R as a new building material. FL received $137 million in weatherization funds from the stimulus program. The law firm retained by ECOFL is assisting ECOFL in tapping into those funds as well as other grants it may receive for helping to create jobs in the State of FL.
ECOFL will become a manufacture of the Infinite R so it can distribute the product easily throughout the state. With the help of AMNE, they are actively seeking machinery to purchase and setup a facility.
ECOFL has ordered a Sprinter truck from AMNE which is being outfitted with spray gear for the Ecosafe Foam and is expected to be delivered by mid August. ECOFL has retained a local PR company to help launch both products after the truck arrives with a media event scheduled which will feature a demonstration of both products to help launch both products in FL.
About Infinite R
Infinite R controls the temperature differential across the R-value. If the temperature difference can be kept low then the heat flow across any R-value is also kept low. If the temperature difference, sometimes referred to as Delta T, equals zero then zero heat flow occurs. Using this new patented technology, zero heat flow conditions have been witnessed even when large temperature differentials existed between the two spaces.
The Company believes all other remarks made in the release to be accurate to the best of their knowledge.
The foregoing press announcement contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by such terminology such as "believes," "expects," "potential," "plans," "suggests," "may," "should," "could," "intends," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. In particular, management's expectations could be affected by, among other things, uncertainties relating to our success in completing acquisitions, financing our operations, entering into strategic partnerships, engaging management and other matters disclosed by us in our public filings from time to time. Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date they are made. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made
Syndication Inc. Announces Mac Marshall Jr. Merged Pinnacle Energy with Sentinel Renewable Energies in South Carolina; Phase 1; Bio-Diesel
Syndication Inc., (Pink Sheets: SYNJ), reports that McCutcheon Marshall Jr., President and Chairman of the Board for Pinnacle Energy Inc., the wholly owned energy subsidiary of Syndication Inc., launched phase 1; Bio-Diesel, of the Sentinel Renewable Energy program in South Carolina, (Sentinel Renewable Energies S.C. Inc.). The Company reports that the launch of the South Carolina 75,000 square foot Bio-Diesel facility is the first phase of a 3 phased commitment which includes wind and solar and was originally entered into as an LOI between the Companies 4 months ago in late March of this year.
The Officers, Directors, and Advisory Board of SRE S.C. Inc., include: McCutcheon Marshall Jr. as the President and Chairman of the Board, Brian Sorrentino as the CEO, Mark Solomon as the Executive Vice President, Howard Siegel as the Secretary, and Mrutyunjaya Chittavajhulas as the Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer. The Advisory Board includes: Member Perichyappan Senthilnathan, Member Kabir Ratnani and Member Nicholas Ng. As a point of legal disclosure SRE S.C. is in a contractual relationship and/or shares advisory board members with Methes Energies Canada Inc. Methes Energies is located in the Mississauga Province of Ontario, Canada and is in the business of developing, marketing and selling turnkey continuous flow bio-diesel processor systems named "the Denami 600," and Sun Si Inc., a TCS production and shipping Corporation located in Zibo, China and is engaged in the solar power energy industry.
When asked to comment on the merger Marshall Jr. said, "The only specific comment I have on the merger, is that I think it's great. It has allowed us to accelerate the developments of the Company and achieve goals much faster then we originally anticipated. However, as far as I understand, it was done some time ago. It's the corporate policy style to let internal developments of the Company season a bit before releasing news. Corporate structure is the responsibility of Mr. Sorrentino the CEO of Pinnacle/SRE S.C. and Syndication. My responsibility is to manage the federal, state, and local financing that we are currently engaged in as well as overseeing the general implementation of the Company's business plan. Over the last 4 months we have engaged in supply contracts, 'Cost Plus' off take agreements for 90% of our bio-diesel production with private, government and military agencies, warehouse and land purchases, local trucking and transportation, local S.C. live and dry farming industry, and most importantly the grant study requirement relationships with major South Carolina collagen institutions, all of which, for strategic purposes, Mr. Sorrentino wishes I not name at this time. As the legal department becomes comfortable it will allow me to release the details of these relationships, including the financing, but, not before," said Marshall Jr., President of Sentinel Renewable Energies S.C. Inc.
When Mr. Sorrentino, the CEO of Syndication was asked to comment on the merger he stated, "Mac has assembled a 'World Class Team,' why is anyone surprised? We are equipped with every tool needed to succeed. The technical, financial, (federal, state, private and public), legal, and political (Senators, Congressmen, Governors) pieces are on board. Mac moves fast. In just 4 short months he has launched the Bio-Diesel Phase of the program and has me working on Phase 2. It seems T Boone has a bunch of wind turbines with no homes and his garage is too small to store them. As the Appointed Co-Representatives of Maryland's 6th District of the Pickens Energy Project, can you see what Mac and I see???? We might be able to find homes for a few of them," said Sorrentino, CEO of Syndication Inc. News Pending.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements covered within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, plans and timing for the introduction or enhancement of our services and products, statements about future market conditions, supply and demand conditions, and other expectations, intentions and plans contained in this press release that are not historical fact and involve risks and uncertainties. Our expectations regarding future revenues depend upon our ability to develop and supply products, which we may not produce today and that meet defined specifications. When used in this press release, the words "plan," "expect," "believe," and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in technology and changes in pervasive markets.
News Contact Information; Syndication Inc., Brian Sorrentino Phone # 888-422-5515
For all mail correspondence; Box 503, Damascus, MD 20872
SOURCE Syndication Inc.
upcoming green events link: http://www.azurebiodiesel.com/
check out the fair dates and other vendors...we can find some big winners imo...RNWF is fuelmeister II btw
IMO -- tomorrow and Friday will be BIG days for AMNE (American Green Company), they are in the midst of a 5/1 forward split and those bollinger bands are awfully tight.. the volume is there, there was buying pressure at the end of today and market makers cannot hold this down much longer.. IMHO it's a great buy now and for a long time.
The company announced a 4x space expansion today. They must be anticipating growth which is a good thing for investors.
Today's PR- http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AlumiFuel-Power-Corp-bw-1548334924.html?x=0&.v=1
Blog- http://h1investing.blogspot.com
Website- http://www.alumifuelpowerinc.com/
****************Alumifuel Power Corp (AFPW.OB)**************
that is really awesome.. is this your site?
HGUE-solar play worth looking into -imo
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=15185
with a forward spilt in the works as well
BEHL -algae play in the process of up listing to BB http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=12546
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is a Japanese equipment maker that trades on the pinks under the symbol: MHVYF. The PPS is currently $3.90 as of 7/29/09. If MHVYF really does get funding from Obama to manufacture wind turbines this should definitely see a spike in PPS by the end of this year. Keep your eye on this one -- it could have some real potential.
Mitsubishi Heavy Plans U.S. Wind-Power Assembly Plant
July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan’s biggest heavy-equipment maker, plans a wind-power generator assembly plant in the U.S. or Canada early next year to benefit from President Barack Obama’s push for cleaner energy.
The proposed plant may cost as much as 10 billion yen ($105 million) and annually produce equipment capable of generating 600 megawatts of electricity, Yoshiaki Tsukuda, a director overseeing Mitsubishi’s engine and turbine business, said in an interview in Yokohama yesterday.
Mitsubishi is competing with General Electric Co. to supply wind turbines and generators as the Obama administration embarks on legislation that will require utilities to get as much as 15 percent of their power from renewable sources. The news follows the acquisition by Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp of a stake in a Texas wind farm from American International Group Inc. for about $100 million.
“The wind is blowing in the direction of renewable energy, given Obama’s pledge,” said Eiji Tomaru, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Demand will likely improve when the U.S. economy stabilizes in years ahead.”
Mitsubishi’s shares have gained 6 percent in the last six months, trailing the 15 percent rise in the benchmark Topix index. They fell 1.1 percent to 374 yen at 12:30 p.m. in Tokyo.
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi will decide details of the new factory by autumn, Tsukuda said. Possible locations for the plant, which will assemble parts from factories in Mexico and Japan, include Texas and the Dakotas, where demand is likely to grow, he said. It is more cost-effective to assemble wind-power generators near where wind farms are likely to be built, he said.
Clean Energy
The company is targeting a 50 percent rise in annual sales from its nuclear and clean-energy business to 3 trillion yen by fiscal 2012, Vice President Ichiro Fukue said in June.
The U.S. built 8,358 megawatts of wind generators last year, bringing total capacity to 25,170 megawatts, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. One megawatt is enough to power about 800 U.S. homes.
Germany and Spain were the second- and third-biggest users of wind power, with capacities of 23,903 megawatts and 16,754 megawatts, compared with a world total of 120,791 megawatts, data compiled by the council shows.
Mitsubishi has an annual wind-power capacity of 1,200 megawatts, Tsukuda said. The company produces turbines at factories in Mexico and in Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki, and makes nacelles, or housings for wind-turbine generators, at its Yokohama and Nagasaki works, he said.
Mitsubishi has also started design work for offshore wind- power equipment including blades and nacelles, Tsukuda said.
“The U.S. and Europe will shift to offshore wind power once available plots of land are filled,” he said.
SymPowerco Corporation (PINKSHEETS: SYMW) CEO John Davenport announced today that the company has closed an agreement with Mr. Steven Humphries and the shareholders of Hoss Motor Sports, Inc. ("HMSI") and Highline Hydrogen Hybrids, Inc ("HHHI") by which the company will acquire majority interests in both HMSI and HHHI. The closing of the agreement completes the terms of the Letters of Intent previously announced on May 11, 2009 (HMSI) and June 30, 2009 (HHHI).
Under the terms of the all-stock agreement, SymPowerco will acquire 70% ownership of both HMSI and HHHI by issuing to Mr. Humphries common shares representing 51% of the post-issuance outstanding shares of SymPowerco, to the shareholders of HMSI and HHHI shares representing 27.5% of the post-issuance outstanding shares of SymPowerco and to related parties shares representing 12% of the post-issuance outstanding shares of SymPowerco.
Hoss Motor Sports Inc. has designed several types of Off Road Utility Vehicles including vehicles designed specifically for Search and Rescue, Construction Sites and for Sport Utility and Off Road Enthusiast markets. Under the SymPowerco umbrella, HMSI will manufacture its advanced vehicles at HMSI's new facility in Dumas, Arkansas.
HHHI has developed a unique supplemental hydrogen fuel system for Internal Combustion Engines that reduces dangerous emissions, enhances fuel efficiency by as much as 25% and increases horsepower by an average of 10%. HHHI plans to release a version of its supplemental fuel system for use on Over-The-Road commercial vehicles. The HHHI products will also be produced in the company's new facility in Dumas, Arizona.
SymPowerco Corporation develops advanced fuel cell and power delivery systems for the rapidly growing personal transportation and portable power system markets being created by today's energy and environmental challenges. HMSI and HHHI offer potentially expansive synergies and marketing opportunities with SymPowerco's Flowing Electrolyte Direct Methanol Fuel Cell and Hybrid Power System technologies.
The Sumitomo Corporation of America is a subsidiary of the Sumitomo Corporation which trades on the OTC under the symbol: SSUMY. The current PPS is $10.07 as of 7/29/09. With wind farms in China & Japan and a strong commitment to developing wind energy in America, SSUMY will be a company to keep an eye on.
Sumitomo to Enter into Wind Energy Business in US
Sumitomo Corporation of America (SCOA hereunder) in conjunction with Sumitomo Corporation (SC hereunder, parent company of Sumitomo Corporation of America, headquartered in Tokyo) (collectively "Sumitomo" or "the Company") is entering the U.S. wind energy business with the purchase of an interest in a 120MW wind farm in Martin County, Texas.
Sumitomo has purchased a 42.5% share in Stanton Wind Energy LLC from AIG Financial Products Corp., a part of American International Group, Inc. The Stanton wind project is developed, managed and operated by Stanton Wind Holdings LLC, a 100% subsidiary of Invenergy Wind North America LLC, one of the leading wind developers in the U.S. Stanton wind project utilizes 80 1.5MW GE turbines and commenced its commercial operations in February 2008, and has been in continuous operations. The remaining share will be held by GE Energy Financial Services and Invenergy group. This 120MW wind power facility, when compared to coal power plants, will contribute a reduction of approximately 800,000t CO2 emissions annually and 20,000,000t over 25 years.
SC already has two developed and operating wind farms in Japan, and one project under development in China. With this investment, Sumitomo for the first time enters into the U.S. market, where governmental incentives are encouraging renewable energy investments.
The renewable energy industry is expected to grow further with the support of the Obama Administration's Green New Deal Policy. Among all other renewable energy sources, the wind power market is expected to have the most growth potential. Market volume is expected to expand in the future. At the end of 2008, cumulative total of 25GW wind power generation facility was introduced in the U.S., according to the American Wind Energy Association. This 25GW facility in the U.S. is the world's highest wind generation capacity on record. The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that 20% of all electricity generation could come from wind power by 2030.
Sumitomo has a strong global commitment to sustaining the environment by contributing to environmental businesses, like the development of renewable energy. The wind power business is an area of strategic focus. The Stanton wind project gives Sumitomo entrance into the U.S. wind business market, and the Company intends to vigorously develop the future of wind business in North America.
Stanton Wind Power Facility
Location: Martin County, Texas
Size: 120MW (80 GE 1.5MW turbines)
Total project cost: Approx. $240Mil
About Sumitomo Corporation of America
Sumitomo Corporation of America (SCOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation (SC), an integrated trading and investment enterprise engaged in multifaceted business activities, which include selling a variety of domestic products and services, conducting import/ export and trilateral business transactions, providing domestic and international business investment, and participating in numerous other profitable activities facilitated by its global network and the relationships of trust built with corporate business partners and consumers in various industrial sectors around the world. For more information, visit www.sumitomocorp.com
About Invenergy Wind LLC
Invenergy Wind LLC and its affiliates are focused on the development, ownership, operation and management of large-scale wind sites and other clean energy generation assets in the North American and European markets.
The Invenergy companies have approximately 2,000 MW of wind projects and 2,200 MW of natural gas-fired generating projects in operation.
Thanks for the info! I should be doing a lot more posting tomorrow.. this board is gonna rock when more people realize how vital green technology is!
Four Problems Facing Solar Power Companies
by: E4 Capital July 27, 2009
We see at least four structural problems facing existing public solar power companies:
There is risk that some new entrant will leapfrog them by developing a better, disruptive technology.
Solar energy has to compete with the memory chip industry for its raw semiconducting materials, which, much like corn, gasoline and ethanol, breaks the link between input cost and selling price.
Competition comes not just from other producers of solar energy, but from other producers of electricity from other alternatives and conventional sources. On a LCOE basis, solar will usually lose on pure economics. Thus,
Demand is heavily reliant on subsidies that will inevitably be reduced or phased out.
Solar produced energy, ultimately, is highly compelling, given it is the shortest path to useable power, provided it can continue to lower costs significantly; there are plenty of other reasons to like solar which we don’t need to list as they are well known. Also, it is competitive now in some marginal situations (locations with very high insolation, very high costs of grid-based electricity, very high subsidies), but valuations suggest investors anticipate far larger markets. Something we don’t predict will be seen from the current set of public solar companies.
On point #1, we noted an article in the July 25 Economist magazine about two private Israeli companies (GreenSun Energy and 3G Solar), each with a promising-sounding technology. We won’t try to summarize them here, but the point is that this is one of many examples of pre-commercial technology that could potentially render current production methods obsolete, very quickly.
The rapid growth of many of the public solar energy companies also suggests that this is a relatively easy business to enter, another risk to the valuations of the current players. Suntech Power Holdings (STP) began operations in May 2002, went public in December 2005, and is a major player, to pick just one example.
In our view, it is far too early for the market to be declaring who the “winners” are in the race for dominant positions in solar energy, as these two companies profiled in the Economist are just examples of what are probably hundreds of companies working on solar technologies.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/151572-four-problems-facing-solar-power-companies?
Will the Clean Energy Economy Become the Next Internet?
Hard Assets Investor July 27, 2009
By Lara Crigger
From biofuels to peak oil, from wind power to solar "picks and shovels," we've been talking quite a bit about alternative and renewable energy on Hard Assets Investor lately. That's why we decided to get the lowdown on the latest developments in clean energy from Alt Energy Stocks' Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA.
As a writer, consultant and financial analyst, Tom Konrad is one of the investment community's best-known experts in renewable energy and energy efficiency. He's a prolific writer, both for Alt Energy Stocks and elsewhere, and armed with a Ph.D. in mathematics, Konrad brings his signature academic perspective to the often hype-filled alt-energy space.
Recently, Hard Assets Investor associate editor Lara Crigger spoke with Konrad about clean energy, including the similarities between clean tech and the Internet, Exxon's leap into biofuels, and the smart- grid free lunch.
Lara Crigger, associate editor, HardAssetsInvestor.com (Crigger): Last week, BusinessWeek discussed whether the clean-energy economy could become the "next Internet." What's your take?
Tom Konrad, financial analyst, Alt Energy Stocks (Konrad): I think the resemblance to the Internet is somewhat superficial. I mean, certainly clean energy will dominate investment headlines for quite awhile. But clean tech investment tends to be extremely capital intensive. Internet investment is very capital-light; you can start up a company in a garage. You just can't do that with clean tech.
So I think the properties of the clean energy boom are going to be much different. It will be slower. The real drivers of clean tech are very long-term economic drivers, whereas the driver of the Internet was technology, a cheaper way to do things.
But clean energy, generally speaking, is driven by several things: rising fossil fuel prices, climate change and its political reactions, and the realization that as fossil fuel prices rise, clean energy will someday be a cheaper way to do things. Because there are several drivers, the boom should be longer and more sustained.
Crigger: So we won't see a few wild years followed by a huge bubble burst, like with Internet.
Konrad: I don't think so. Certainly, we could see another stock price burst. In the recent bust, clean tech stocks took a bigger hit than others, mainly because they have high betas. Investor attitudes come and go, and we'll see busts along the way. But I think the proportion of speculation and investor enthusiasm compared to reality was higher for the Internet than it is for clean energy, so the relative volatility will be lower.
At the same time, there's a lot of hype. In fact, there may be more of that in clean tech, because it's hard to put together something real.
Crigger: Speaking of hype, are there certain sectors or technologies that investors should be wary of?
Konrad: They should be wary of anything that's really exciting. Personally, I tend to push the least exciting ones, like energy efficiency. Only maybe 1% of the companies in energy efficiency are hype, because it's just so boring.
If you were a hypemonger, you'd do solar. Solar's got a great story, but everybody knows it. And when everybody knows it, that's when you have to watch out.
I think algae is another one to be wary of, especially now. It's the flavor of the moment, but it's a very immature technology. I wrote an article recently about advanced biofuels, in which I detailed each of the three public algae companies, and they really have no particular distinction or advantage over the private ones. Why should these three out of dozens survive? Why should any of them survive?
Crigger: What about Exxon's recent announcement of a $600 million deal to develop algae biofuel? Will this be the trigger that sets off the algae industry?
Konrad: Well, it's a step along the way. Long term, I have a lot of faith in algae. It's the one biofuel feedstock that has the potential to displace a large fraction of our liquid fuel needs. But we're talking 10 years, most likely, before anything is commercially available. That's beyond the range of a stock market investor.
It's one of these things that, because the story is good, people are all excited about it. But there isn't anything that's going to save us from the drivers of climate change. Peak oil is going to happen. And algae is not going to displace oil, because it's going to be very expensive. Look, there's no free lunch. It's all going to be hard work.
Crigger: Does the price of oil have to rise dramatically before something like algae-derived biofuels can take off?
Konrad: With algae, a lot of it is technology. It's going to be a function of two things. The price of algae will drop, but it's pretty capital intensive, so it's always going to be expensive.
I come back to the energy return on investment, or, how much energy are you putting in to get some out? And for most renewable - wind, solar, etc. - you only get 3 to 5 times as much energy out as you put in. Now historically, with oil, that's been as high as 100. But these days, it's dropping into the single digits. So as those two numbers come to be about the same, then you'll tend to reach price parity too.
Crigger: Why is algae the only biofuel that has a chance to displace oil on a large scale? What about ethanol?
Konrad: Ethanol is limited by corn. There's an upper limit on corn ethanol because there's an upper limit on corn production. We're near it already, and once we hit it, that's it. That's all you're going to get, unless you plant more corn - which we don't have land for. Maybe there are some efficiency gains to be gotten, but the change would be marginal.
But just because it's not a significant portion of your energy doesn't mean it's not a good business. Ethanol is not a solution to the climate problem; it's never going to fix that. But it is a national security help, and a way to deal marginally with peak oil.
If the producers of corn want to sell it that way, then they'll be able to fix their image problem, because then, they'll just be like any other business. They're a chemical business. They're turning biofeedstock into a liquid fuel. It's just another commodity business.
Crigger: You've written quite glowingly about the smart grid sector. Why do you like it so much?
Konrad: I like smart grid because it's a free lunch ...
Crigger: Hey, I thought you said there weren't any free lunches.
Konrad: Yeah, yeah (laughs). But there is a free lunch, and it's energy efficiency. Because there's a free lunch whenever markets are not functioning well, and the electricity market is very dysfunctional.
Someone once described the way we deal with electricity as "going out to a restaurant every day of the month, getting a menu without any prices, and then getting a bill at the end of the month." The smart grid hopes to actually put prices on that menu, and bill you at the time. So if you think about how you'd eat if that were the case, you'd be much more reasonable about what you order, and you'd still be happy with your meal. In fact, you might be happier, since you wouldn't be surprised by a $1,000 bill at the end of the month.
So you would get as much utility out of your electricity as you were before, but there will be a lower cost, because you'll be choosier. There's the free lunch: spending less on energy because we are using our energy more intelligently.
Crigger: So as an investor, what are some smart ways to approach this "smart grid?"
Konrad: It's hard, since it's a very early sector, but I like the more established technologies, like demand response, or working to make the upstream part of our electricity distribution system more efficient. It's less sexy, but it may be something that may pay well for investors.
Crigger: Should investors examine clean energy stocks differently than they would other energy stocks, or even stocks in general?
Konrad: No, I don't think so. But you do have to remember that it's the most exciting sector out there. So there will be more startups just out to collect investors' money, who will never go anywhere. But that's true in all sectors whenever they get hot.
The other thing to remember is that no stock, no company and no technology is going to save the world. And there are a lot of promises of that. But they can't. Energy is just going to be hard work.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/151525-will-the-clean-energy-economy-become-the-next-internet?
That is exactly the company I was implying. Took a trip down to see Sunbay Energy Corp. in Port Hope, Ontario this weekend and I was impressed with the facility they set aside for raising awareness in their community. Read more on the wlsa discussion board: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=5562
WLSA is the big plasma gasification green company I have on my list right now
UK "carbon budgets" seen as model for others.
Fri Jul 24, 2009 7:12pm EDT
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
OSLO (Reuters) - The world can learn from a British plan for "carbon budgets" to fight climate change even though London often promises more than it delivers, a senior government adviser said.
Jonathon Porritt, who steps down as chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission on Monday, gave the Labour government a mixed report for achievements including cuts in greenhouse gases of 21 percent below 1990 levels by 2008.
He told Reuters that a success for Britain was that it was the first country in the world to set itself legally binding "carbon budgets" until 2020 as part of a national goal toward cutting emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Under the five-year budgets, each government ministry has responsibility for cuts in areas under its authority -- such as transport, power, homes, workplaces or defense.
"I have no doubt that other countries will look at that and say 'that's a really interesting way to get cross-government ownership'," Porritt said after nine years heading the government-appointed Commission.
"The hassle has always been that a government -- a prime minister or an environment minister -- can sign off on cuts. But unless you get the whole of the government behind it you can't deliver on climate change targets. It's impossible," he said.
But Porritt also said that the British government often exaggerated its role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions as part of a U.N.-led drive to limit more droughts, extinctions, floods, rising sea levels and heatwaves.
COAL MINES
A shift from high-polluting coal to North Sea gas, largely independent of climate concerns, explained much of the 21 percent emissions cut since 1990.
"Different analyses I've seen over the years indicate that probably more than 70 percent of that achievement is down to moving out of coal and into gas," he said.
Porritt, an environmental campaigner who was also a founder of the Forum for the Future charity, said British governments had been good at "salvoes of climate rhetoric fired off into the ether" that rarely made it into policy.
Still, Porritt said that Britain had made progress compared to other nations by writing its climate goals into law. And Prime Minister Gordon Brown also benefited from cross-party support for combating global warming.
Porritt said that even former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made a speech at the United Nations in 1988 warning about climate change. "In those days a lot of people didn't know what she was talking about," he said.
As the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, Britain feels to blame for emitting greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels longer than other nations.
Porritt said he expected the world would manage to agree some kind of U.N. pact to fight global warming in Copenhagen in December. But he predicted a lot of loose ends.
Porritt will stand down from July 27 and be succeeded by Will Day, who has worked with international aid organizations and the BBC.
Food for thought, what if there was a technology that would solve global waste management issues while effectively harnessing clean energy?
Waste management is a growing crisis worldwide, where neither landfills nor incinerators are environmentally conscious solutions. Most recycling programs are creative but inefficient alternatives. The disadvantages to these solutions deem them unintelligent.
Demand for power may become a crisis issue in the next few decades. Emerging nations with growing populations and growing energy demands in high GDP nations continually stress the power grid. What happens when demands reach capacity? What happens when common fossil fuel reserves, i.e. coal, diminish? Solar and wind projects are gaining recognition but are expensive and inefficient renewable energy technologies.
Plasma Gasification is a universal solution to several of these current and emerging crisis issues. The technology is efficient in intaking waste (feedstock) and efficiently harnessing clean energy. The remaining waste, known as 'slag' is non-toxic, completely harmless to the environment and has been known to have several resourceful uses, for instance the paving of roads. Sunbay Energy Corp. is proposing the construction of a waste-to-energy plant in Port Hope, Ontario operating under plasma gasification technology. More on the company may be read here: http://timelesswealth.net/sunbay.html
The following is an educational video explaining the technology and advantage to plasma gasification, titled "Discovery Channel features energy from waste": http://www.timelesswealth.net/video2.html
Excellent idea thank you for sharing.
Here's one more you may want to consider for your list.
China Nuvo Solar Energy represents one of the most exciting opportunities trading on the over the counter exchange today. As of now, completely undiscovered by the investment community, this company has revolutionary Green technologies that could bring them potentially millions in revenues. Most small cap investors do not know about this company but this is fast changing, at the beginning of a major run up there is a major publicity campaign in the works and as more and more investors become aware of this hugely undervalued stock the price will skyrocket!
CNUV is in the high demand Clean Alternative Energy Sector .
Large blocks of this stock are owned by the CEO and several large shareholders, there is very, very little stock available in the public domain.
Let’s Recap:
China Nuvo Solar Energy has Professional Management, New Patented solar technology and low stock price that can be purchased before the big run-up in price by those in the know.
China Nuvo Solar Energy represents one of the most exciting opportunities trading on the over the counter exchange today. As of now, completely undiscovered by the investment community, this company has revolutionary Green technologies that could bring them potentially millions in revenues. Most small cap investors do not know about this company but this is fast changing, at the beginning of a major run up there is a major publicity campaign in the works and as more and more investors become aware of this hugely undervalued stock the price will skyrocket!
CNUV is in the high demand Clean Alternative Energy Sector .
Large blocks of this stock are owned by the CEO and several large shareholders, there is very, very little stock available in the public domain.
Let’s Recap:
China Nuvo Solar Energy has Professional Management, New Patented solar technology and low stock price that can be purchased before the big run-up in price by those in the know.
..............................Invest in CNUV.OB Today!
Suntech Power Holdings is a Chinese solar energy company that should be on everyone's radar. It is essentially the BIGGEST solar energy manufacturer in the world, producing a variety of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules to Spain, Germany, the United States, China, South Korea, Italy, the Middle East, Australia and Japan -- the key countries in alternative energy to date. Suntech trades on the NYSE under the symbol: STP at $20.49 as of 7/24/2009 (up 8.24%).
What we can Learn from China’s Heavy Investment in Solar Energy
Written by Jeff Wolfe, Co-Founder and CEO of groSolar
As I write this I am preparing to board a very long flight to China, where I’ll be talking to a few Chinese PV module manufacturers, as well as our existing inverter supplier, Motech, in Taiwan. This will be a chance to meet and greet potential future suppliers on their own ground, and review factories as we consider sourcing more materials from China, but there are many things I already know before embarking.
New York Times Columnist, Tom Friedman is right. China is investing heavily and preparing to leave the rest of the renewable energy world in the dust. In the past two weeks Suntech, currently the largest solar module manufacturer in the world, signed 2 GW (2000 MW) of projects in China. Those 2 GW represent merely the contracts of a single company. Last year – and likely this year – the total U.S. market is 350 MW (0.35 GW). Granted, not all the Chinese projects happen this year, but plans are on paper – there is a schedule.
Yes they have a labor advantage, but China is also pumping a lot of money into R&D in order to make the next generation of renewable energy products, and they are succeeding.
The U.S. does not have a command and control economic system, nor am I suggesting that it should. But when it comes to alternative energy, we can learn a lot from China’s strategies – regardless of differences in our economic systems. China is telling their banks to support PV companies with strong loans, both for domestic and foreign. So the real irony is that I am going to China not just to find products, but to find financing (preliminarily offered) to install those products in the US. The engine for job creation in the US may well be Chinese bank project funding. Meanwhile, U.S. banks are still waiting on a loan guarantee program, which was promised six months ago, is guaranteed to be complex and may not even work. The last U.S. loan guarantee program failed.
The demand for solar exists. The need for action exists. All that’s missing is political will, and streamlined policies that will strengthen our economy, create jobs, save the environment and, in the long term, decrease the cost of living. It’s time for the U.S. to lead; we just need leaders with vision, who will quickly put that vision into action.
Clean Energy 101: Can fossil fuels become clean energy?
While the American Clean Energy & Security Act (Waxman-Markey bill) works its way through the U.S. Senate, many Americans are wondering just what is clean energy. This first article of a series will break down the types of energy resources we currently use, fossil fuels, nuclear power, hydroelectric power, renewable and biomass energy sources and you will decide just which resources are considered to be clean energy.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary clean means to be free from dirt or pollution and energy’s definition is “the capacity of acting or being active.”
The dictionary now has a definition for carbon footprint, which truly defines whether an energy source is clean or not.
There is a fine line which is often blurred when people discuss clean energy. Some “energy“ spokespersons say it’s clean when it is burned at the power plant, reactor, or refinery if it gives off little to no air pollution, such as greenhouse gases (GHG) leading to global warming, or the release of chemicals harmful to the environment like sulfur dioxide, mercury, lead, dioxins, carcinogens or other pollutants harmful to humans.
However, everything is interconnected, just like our homes are connected to an electrical grid. All energy is created by a resource and the question as to whether something is “truly” clean energy has more to do with the following: The extraction of the resource and its environmental impacts, transportation energy use and associated pollution, the energy used to produce it into a viable product, and the energy and resources to create infrastructure (refinery, power plant, generator, reactor) to produce the energy. Finally, this includes any harmful waste that remains once the energy has been exhausted from the resource. Therefore it goes beyond the GHG burned strictly at the plant and includes the GHG produced everywhere along the route to its end destination.
Therefore clean energy is not really an appropriate term, because all energy for modern day living requires resources, transportation, and infrastructure. The more appropriate term is to call it “green energy”. The definition of green energy is energy produced using a low carbon footprint and less pollution from its emergence to its disposal.
Here’s an outline of fossil fuel energy resources used in Colorado. Which ones are truly clean and green, or more accurately, green and low pollution? Are there any that fit this definition?
Coal
Colorado gets 70% of its electricity from coal and our state is the 8th largest extractor, (it should not be called production as the animals and plants that became coal are no longer producing it here in Colorado) of coal in the United States,. A quarter of all the coal found in the world is found in the U.S.
Coal extracted in the Western U.S. is considered to contain less sulfur than the coal extracted from Appalachia. The state of Colorado uses coal extracted from the Western Slope and Wyoming, which is transported on long coal trains running on diesel over hundreds of miles many times a day.
Many environmentalists dispute the possibility of “clean coal”. This brings to mind the management of waste in general. If a bird is trapped in an oil spill and is lucky enough to be cleaned what happens to all the oil? Does it disappear into thin air? Does it suddenly become something clean and healthy for the environment? The same questions arise on the cleaning of coal. The coal is “cleaned” but what happens to all the hazardous toxins? Do they become something non-hazardous? What about all the sludge ponds (coal ash) flooding into the rivers and ground water in Appalachia?
Considering the effects of carbon dioxide, coal cannot be considered clean unless the CO2 is removed and safely and permanently sequestered. The process of sequestration takes considerable energy resources and according to Wikipedia the costs of this method would increase energy costs of coal by 25%-40%. There are many unanswered questions about the feasibility of this technology (never demonstrated on a commercial scale) and whether the CO2 can be safely stored.
In Appalachia large hilltops are being blown up daily to extract the coal. This practice scars the land and has a negative impact on the environment and to the residents living in these areas. While the coal industry may argue that if coal extraction ceases that jobs will be lost, the fact is that fewer people are working in mines than in the past as machines and explosives are replacing men and women.
One practice is to place the fly ash into concrete to contain it for awhile, but again coal is a huge energy consumer and a dirty resource being carted by the tons several times a day through Denver. Remember that coal contains toxins like mercury, which makes fish hazardous to consume. Sulfur dioxide is released through the burning of coal and is carried through the rain clouds and will poison lakes and forests through acid rain. Is this considered clean or green energy?
Natural Gas
Colorado has a great deal of natural gas which is found in Weld County and on the Western Slope, but much of it is exported to other states. Colorado's natural gas usage ranks 13th of all the states according to Statemaster.com. The natural gas found in Colorado mainly originates from methane produced from coal beds found deep underground. With so much natural gas, a gas pipeline has already been built from Colorado to states in the Midwest and that pipe is currently being extended further. It has already been responsible for substantial increases in natural gas prices in Colorado.
While this energy resource is considered to have the lowest air pollution levels than of all the fossil fuels, it has proved to be a health hazard to many rural Colorado residents. For instance, just a couple of months ago Weld County residents found that chemicals pumped into the ground to extract gas through hydraulic fracturing, as well as some gas, mixes with the water table and contaminates existing private water wells. Residents can literally set their tap water on fire. Is this healthy for the environment and for the people and the animals that rely on clean drinking water? Weld County residents are not the only ones suffering from the side effects of natural gas extraction. Many on the Western Slope have had to deal with this “formality” for years.
Recently Representative DeGette introduced the FRAC bill which Colorado’s Democratic Governor Ritter opposes and DeGette has since backed down under pressure from the governor. The bill is designed to strengthen regulations protecting these rural Colorado residents from the current practice of hydraulic fracturing (pronounced "fracking"). Is this considered clean energy?
Oil
Colorado has some crude oil, and a lot of oil shale. Oil shale is much more difficult to extract than crude oil, which makes it more expensive. Extraction of oil shale also does substantial damage to the environment and requires large amounts of water. Water is not a luxury here in Colorado. In addition nasty chemicals are pumped into the ground to aid the extraction process.
The U.S. imports crude oil from Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela (the top four importers) and last year we received 9,212,000 (average) barrels per day. We consumed 19,498,000 (average) barrels of crude oil and petroleum products per day in 2008. Crude oil and the petroleum products (created from crude oil) are refined and transported over long distances to finally arrive at the gas stations, car part stores, and into the many household products we use like cosmetics, cleaners, plastics, household goods, furnishings, clothing, pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, etc.
Furthermore, oil refineries are not being built in the U.S. due to strict environmental standards enacted in the 1980’s and the high cost to build “environmentally friendly” refineries. The oil companies’ solution is to import oil refining from other countries, if the Markey-Waxman bill includes the low carbon emissions standards (the basis for the bill). According to the oil companies it would cost them more to refine it here than to have it imported. However, isn’t that increasing the carbon footprint through transportation and creating more carbon? How is that clean?
In order to get a grasp on how much we depend on oil, take a look around your home. Try to find something that isn’t made of plastic, wrapped in plastic, or contains petroleum products, etc. This includes most standard carpeting, electronics, and many man made materials like nylon, polyester, vinyl, etc. Remember that crude oil and petroleum products are fossil fuels and are not renewable.
Some may remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, which spilled an estimated 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. It wiped out the fishing industry there and destroyed wildlife. It was the largest American environmental disaster of its day.
However a much larger environmental disaster is taking place daily in America and it isn’t being mentioned on the nightly news. If we exclude the petroleum production industry, we (everyday Americans) are leaking many more gallons of petroleum products than the Exxon Valdez did into the streams, creeks and oceans. These "oil spills" originate from leaking cars, petroleum leeching from the blacktop, illegal dumping of waste oil, and from the products we use in our yards, parks, and in agricultural fields. According to NOAA, our daily runoff makes up to 80% of all pollution in our waterways.
Fertilizers are the most deadly culprit to marine life, among many others. When we think of fertilizer (most of it petroleum based), we think of beautiful tomatoes and green gardens, but the nitrogen that helps plants grow also kills other life by increasing algae growth. Petroleum based fertilizer also results in lower vitamin and mineral crops, a serious health impact throughout the world today. Increased algae growth depletes oxygen levels in the waterways. At the mouth of the Mississippi River there is a “dead zone” (please see this author’s previous article called Springtime green tips). Where the oceans meet the rivers there is only a moonscape devoid of life. Is this clean energy?
Being clean and green starts with you!
Look for Michele’s next article: Clean Energy 101: Are hydro power and the nuclear option considered clean energy?
Special thanks goes to Michael Haughey's consulting support on this article.
I am going to start getting regular PR updates on here for the green companies on the iBox within the next day or two.
it's a tad bit off topic.. but i thought it was just cool
D-backs going green during homestand
By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com
Club will use renewable energy for seven-game stretch
PHOENIX -- The D-backs have added green to its team colors.
The team, in partnership with Arizona Public Service Co., will be using renewable energy during the seven-game homestand starting Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates and concluding with the Philadelphia Phillies. Selected D-backs fans attending games will receive compact fluorescent bulbs and free energy home audits, courtesy of APS.
The APS Green Homestand will be powered by renewable energy purchased from a "green-e certified" provider that will cover the entire energy needs of Chase Field for the homestand. The total energy displaced is 1,820,000 kWh, which is equivalent to the energy needed to power 6,500 homes for a week. Moreover, the total energy displaced is equivalent to a reduction in water consumption by more than 424,060 gallons of water, which is enough to serve the needs of 216 homes for a week, and a reduction in carbon dioxide (C02) emissions by 1,670 pounds, the equivalent to removing six cars off the road for one week.
"With APS, we think we are in a unique position to be able to help raise awareness about the need for energy conservation and renewable energy," said D-backs president and CEO Derrick Hall. "We can all do something about the energy we use and how we use it."
Throughout the homestand, the D-backs will promote energy efficiency and provide green lifestyle tips. In addition, APS experts will be at each game to answer questions about energy use and to help educate fans about things they can do to be greener while saving money and energy. The APS Clown Troupe and The Renewables, a new APS team of clean energy super heroes, representing solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and bio-mass energy, will also be present in the St. Joseph's Sandlot for children and families.
"Any time we can get our energy conservation and renewable messages out to thousands of people at one time, it's an automatic win," said Terry Orlick, APS director of customer information and programs. "To do this for seven games shows the leadership and commitment that the D-backs have for our community."
I actually had that marked on my sheet =D I will be adding that on here shortly when I continue my list of Green Picks on the iBox, it has great potential for sure.
((((GROUND FLOOR OPPORTUNITY))))
ALUMIFUEL POWER CORPORATION (AFPW.OB)
DO your research……Pay for your retirement.
Will you own AFPW.OB or just wish you did???
Iberdrola is one of the four largest energy companies in the world and trades on the OTC under IBDRY. The current PPS is at $32.25. If Iberdrola can really get half a billion dollars from the US government as part of the American Recovery and Revinestment Act, it would be a huge move for the company -- IBDRY will be one to monitor in the coming weeks.
Spanish Wind Giant Seeks $500M Slice of US Clean Energy Pie
By Stacy Feldman
Spanish utility Iberdrola Renewables may soon be taking a large leap forward in terms of its U.S. wind power market share.
The global wind giant is seeking a half a billion dollar chunk of the $3 billion expected to flow from the clean energy portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The money would help the world's No. 1 wind developer bring 850 MW of new wind turbines online in the U.S. this year—a 40 percent jump from its current installed U.S. capacity of roughly 3,030 MW.
And that's only a start: Iberdrola is considering investing as much as $6 billion in the U.S. market over the next four years, and eyeing up to $2 billion in government support, Chairman Ignacio Galán told industry analysts in a conference call today.
The company's effort to snatch up stimulus funds highlights the growing influence of foreign companies in the resource-rich U.S. wind market. It also shows how outside developers are viewing the Obama administration's commitment to clean energy as a can't-miss economic opportunity.
"We couldn't be more pleased with the progression of the regulatory environment," said Ralph Currey, CEO of Iberdrola Renewables U.S. operations. "First thing was the stimulus package that was passed very quickly. The second thing was the grant program and the grant procedures.
"We already have bills in front of the House and bills in front of the Senate that are quite positive for our industry. They address three things: A national portfolio standard, details that have to be resolved in the transmission network, and last but not least and probably the most complex is carbon cap and trade. The thought that these bills are in front of Congress right now, this early in the Obama administration, is quite impressive."
There's no denying that America is sitting on a veritable goldmine of wind power.
The wind power potential across the United States is tremendous—as much as 16 times its total electricity demand, according to a new Harvard-led study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For Iberdrola, U.S. wind power is also more reliable and less prone to seasonal fluctuations than Europe, where the first and last quarters of the year are windier than the middle months, Galán said.
Iberdrola has been tapping that American wind wealth since 2006, along with the nation's green jobs talent. It currently has 34 wind farms operating in 20 states and employs 800 U.S. workers. As of late March, its installed U.S. capacity accounted for nearly a third of the group's total global wind capacity, and over 40 percent of the company's project pipeline is planned for U.S. soil.
Storm Clouds on the Horizon?
Interestingly, Iberdrola's aggressive push into the U.S. market comes as oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens is putting his mammoth, 4,000 MW wind power plan for Pampa, Texas, on hold.
The oil man turned wind advocate intended to begin generating electricity from the wind farm by 2011. It was to be the world's largest, with 2,700 turbines capable of powering more than 1 million homes, and Pickens spent $60 million promoting the project.
Why delay it now? One big reason, Pickens claims, is the credit crunch. That, coupled with falling natural gas prices, is making it hard for his company Mesa Power to get needed capital.
Just as crippling for the project's prospects is the lack of transmission capacity to carry wind from remote Pampa to urban centers where it's needed. Where there is wind on land in America, there is often no grid. And where there is grid, there is not enough utility-strength wind.
Indeed, transmission may be the greatest challenge facing the U.S. wind industry. While it can take just about a year to build a wind farm, it can take around five to deliver the clean power to populated areas.
When the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently graded the government's progress on achieving the U.S. Department of Energy's goal of getting 20 percent power from wind by 2030, transmission infrastructure earned an insufficient C- and dragged down the total score.
Which begs the question: Iberdrola is on the verge of a massive expansion in wind growth, and the U.S. government may even help the company along with an infusion of green stimulus cash, but without adequate transmission, can all that wind even make it to market?
Upgrading Transmission
Don Furman, Iberdrola Renewables' senior vice president for development, transmission and policy, has warned the U.S. Congress that
"the U.S. transmission grid is aging and needs upgrading to function reliably and to meet future load requirements."
Already, more than 70,000 MW of wind projects in the Midwest are on hold because of the transmission bottleneck, according to the AWEA. That would be enough to power some 14 million households.
Of course, solutions are available. Dollar-wise, it would take a $60 billion transmission investment to remedy the issue, or $3 billion per year, according to the DOE's 20 percent by 2030 scenario.
The nation already spends about $8 billion annually on transmission infrastructure. When you consider the benefits expected from a 20 percent wind future—a half a million new green jobs and a 25 percent cut in electric sector CO2 emissions—the investment becomes a no-brainer.
Tapping the nation's vast off-shore wind power resource could also help cure its grid woes. Off-shore wind turbines could be installed a few miles from many of America's urban centers and would carry a relatively low cost of transmission.
Added SYNJ to the list of Double Zero Green Picks.. we will have to see how the Pinnacle Energy Project develops, but there is serious potential IMO
Windtronics will be a company to keep in the back of your minds for the time being.. with a turbine that would generate power from wind blowing at merely 2 mph, it could have a definite residential appeal at some point down the road meaning it may get acquired by one of the big wind energy players at some point (i.e. Duke Energy).
Inside a small wind-turbine beta test
By Martin LaMonica
MUSKEGON, Mich.--Tucked in the back corner of a nondescript office park is an early shoot in the budding green-energy economy--a start-up with big plans for small wind turbines.
Last month, I took a detour from a summer road trip to visit WindTronics and see a prototype of its wind turbine designed for individual homes and commercial buildings. The company's lab, housed in a nearly empty warehouse, is a glimpse into the fervent experimentation going on among green-tech entrepreneurs and, specifically, in small wind.
With people looking for clean and cheaper forms of energy, sales of small wind turbines are brisk and projected to grow in the coming years. There are now dozens of different small wind turbines available in a dizzying number of designs, although most commercial products are just smaller versions of big turbines--a propeller with three blades.
Despite all the activity, there's some creeping doubt about the ultimate potential of small wind. A study in Massachusetts and one in the U.K. found that many residential locations don't have sufficient wind to meet the promised output of small turbines.
WindTronics has designed a turbine that addresses that wind speed issue head on. While most wind turbines start to work when the wind blows at seven or eight miles per hour, its machine--to be sold for $4,500 as the Honeywell Wind Turbine--starts to generate electricity at only two miles per hour. That, say company executives, means small wind can make sense economically in many more locations.
Kilowatts versus kilowatt-hours
Entering WindTronics' lab, there wasn't much to see except for a spartan office and conference room. A design drawing of its wheel-like turbine on the wall gave me a clue I was in the right place. After a moment, the turbine's inventor and chief technical officer, Imad Mahawili, greeted me and brought me into a warehouse.
At the back end of the cavernous room, there was the 6-foot-high turbine, a table with some testing equipment, and a truck trailer that had been converted into a low-cost wind tunnel.
WindTronics has designed its turbine, which is now going through certification testing and will be available later this year, to be mounted on rooftops or onto free-standing poles. The most striking thing about seeing the turbine up close is how big it is. At 6 feet high without the mounting gear, it would be a conspicuous addition on a home's roofline, although I imagine less so on a pole.
The turbine is built around a wheel with long spokes, each of which has a specially shaped, bendable nylon blade attached to it. Around the rim of this big wheel is a "shroud" that covers the blade edges. This is where WindTronics' design differs from most other wind machines.
Most turbines have a gear box at the hub of the rotor. As the wind turns the blades, the gear box turns a generator to make electricity.
WindTronics turns things inside out by having the electricity generation happen at the rim of the turbine. Permanent magnets attached to the blade tips spin past stators--essentially wire coils--attached to the shroud to generate a current. Without the resistance of a gear box at the hub, WindTronics says its turbine will spin--and generate electricity--at low wind speeds, which over the course of time will add up to more power than other turbines, company executives argue.
"The reality is because most turbine makers sell to utilities, they have to specify the maximum power," said Mahawili. "The other companies don't give details on how many kilowatt-hours a turbine will make, just the plate power (in kilowatts), which doesn't signify much. We're really not telling the story as we should."
WindTronics says its turbine will generate 2,000 kilowatt-hours in a year for a home with a very good--called Class 4--wind resource. That's between 15 and 20 percent of the annual electricity consumption for the average U.S. home.
Green collar industry?
Mahawili then cranked up the wind tunnel, which is used to measure the output of the turbine. Rather than pay a lot of money to test its turbines in commercial wind tunnels, it built its own with a giant fan placed at the front of a semi trailer.
As the fan cranked up, we could see on a laptop how much power the test turbine produced at different speeds. With about 10 mile-per-hour wind, it generated about 100 watts and kept climbing upward with higher speeds.
Part of its system for capturing wind power at low speeds is a battery--a standard issue 12-volt car battery--that stores electricity at very low wind speeds. As it speeds up, the turbine can directly feed an inverter to produce household current, Mahawili explained.
When I walked into the wind tunnel itself, there was no noticeable vibration. The fan for the wind tunnel made noise but I couldn't distinguish the sound of the WindTronics test turbine, which the company says will operate very quietly at 35 to 45 decibels.
After the wind tunnel slowed down, WindTronics CEO Reg Adams told me about the company's business plans. It has a partnership with Ace Hardware to distribute the turbine starting this fall. The first units will be manufactured in the Netherlands but the company is looking for factory sites in the U.S.
There are already tax incentives offered from Michigan, a state that's desperately seeking out new manufacturing industries, notably wind. WindTronics was incubated in the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center in Muskegon, a city known in the past for its lumber industry.
Although it has the support of government officials plugging for "green-collar jobs," WindTronics has a long way to go before it can claim to be a commercial success. In addition to finalizing its product, it has to develop the distribution channels and ensure enough people are trained to install the turbines.
Also, the small wind category is relatively immature. Although there was a big jump in sales last year, there were only 10,000 units installed, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Even with its ability to spin at low speeds, WindTronics' turbine should be placed in good locations for wind, said president and CEO Reg Adams. Typically, that means well above and away from any obstructions, including trees, in a site with steady wind.
Still, the company's goal is to bring the cost of distributed wind down significantly and get a toehold in this relatively new market. When compared to other turbines or solar panels, the yearly energy output of WindTronics' turbine will compare favorably on price, said Adams. "We want this to be mainstream, not a specialty item," he said.
With the renewable and clean energy market BOOMING in China more so than any other country as of right now.. YGE is definitely a company to keep an eye on. They trade on the NYSE and just opened up regional headquarters in NYC and SF to nail down the east and west coast of the US. PV applications relate to solar power which is one of the biggest alternative energies.
Yingli Green Energy Expands Its Footprint in the China Market
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced its recent business developments in the China market.
China Market Business Updates
Yingli Green Energy hosted a forum in Baoding, the first of its kind in China, to discuss the establishment of industry standards and project financing in connection with the construction of on-grid solar plants in China. In attendance at the event were senior managers and representatives from more than forty state-owned utilities companies, state grid corporations, project design and development companies and the local government. The Company also announced the establishment of a strategic alliance with a subsidiary of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co., Ltd. ("CGNPC") to explore the opportunities for development of on-grid solar projects both in China and overseas markets.
Expansion Activities in Hainan Province
Yingli Green Energy has agreed with Hainan Provincial Development Holding Company Limited ("Hainan Development"), a state-owned enterprise, to form a joint venture, Hainan Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd. ("Hainan Yingli"), to build manufacturing facilities with annual production capacity of 100 MW in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules in Haikou, Hainan Province. Under the agreement, Yingli Green Energy will hold an 80% equity interest in Hainan Yingli. The establishment of Hainan Yingli will be subject to the approval of Yingli Green Energy's board of directors.
In addition, Yingli Green Energy has agreed with Hainan Development and Hainan Provincial Water Conservancy & Power Group Company Limited, a state-owned enterprise in Hainan Province, to form another joint venture, Hainan Green Islands Power Company Limited ("Green Islands Power") to develop and operate on-grid solar projects in Hainan Province. Under the agreement, Yingli Green Energy will hold a 20% equity interest in Green Islands Power. It is expected that Green Islands Power will develop on-grid solar projects totaling up to 300 megawatts from 2009 to 2011 in Hainan Province.
"We are very excited to be participating in the development of China's PV industry," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "Following the launch of China's PV incentive policies, including the Ministry of Finance's announcement yesterday of the Golden Sun Demonstration Program, a subsidy program for the PV industry in China, and the kick-off of the construction of a 10 MW on-grid solar plant in Dunhuang, we expect there will be many additional near-term opportunities in the China market. As one of the world's leading PV players and a pioneer in China's domestic PV industry, we are actively seeking opportunities to expand our market footprint through cooperation with provincial and municipal governments as well as leading utilities companies."
Mr. Miao continued, "As such, we are particularly excited about our expansion into Hainan Province, an area rich in solar resources and benefiting from strong local government support. Our newly proposed joint ventures, Hainan Yingli and Green Islands Power, will be the province's first PV manufacturer and PV project integrator, respectively. As a renewable energy company, we are dedicated to driving the viability of PV applications and supporting sustainable development worldwide and we see these recent moves in the China market as natural extensions of our growth strategy and corporate mission."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or operate on a stand-alone basis. Based in Baoding, China, Yingli Green Energy sells its PV modules to system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Belgium, France, China and the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.yinglisolar.com .
Thought this was interesting -- something to keep in mind to see if it becomes a bigger topic in the coming months
Vehicle-To-Grid Technology Gains Some Traction
By ANNIE JIA of ClimateWire
As American car buyers prepare to kick the tires of the first new generation of electric cars to arrive since the 1920s, Willett Kempton already has bigger plans for these vehicles.
Kempton, 61, directs the Center for Carbon-free Power Integration at the University of Delaware. He is the originator of a concept that would make electric vehicles a boon to today's electricity grid, and a potential solution for one of the biggest climate-related question marks hovering over the grid's future: how to store renewable energy.
The idea is to allow electric vehicles not only to draw power from the grid, but to send electricity back into it, as well. It effectively would use the cars' batteries as a big storage system to help buffer the constantly fluctuating balance of electricity in the system -- ups and downs that are expected to become steeper and more unpredictable as the share of renewable energy rises.
While electric cars are a new idea to most people, Kempton, who teaches renewable energy policy, has had these ambitions since the mid 1990's. While he was mulling over the problem of how to extend the use of solar power when he happened to attend a discussion of electric vehicles in Washington, D.C. Suddenly a light bulb went on in his head. "There's going to be batteries everywhere there's a garage or a driveway," he recalls thinking.
His lab has been researching the idea since then and more recently testing it. Now he has applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to launch the first field-scale demonstration of the concept. His new project will come in an environment that has become markedly more serious about the idea of electric vehicles, and where increasingly large players are investigating the potential of his concept, which is called vehicle-to-grid, or V2G, for short.
"The electric system in the country is one of the biggest, most complex just-in-time delivery systems that exists today," explained Sunil Chhaya, senior project manager of the plug-in hybrid vehicle program at the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif.
"The way I see whether this technology is a serious contender or a serious technology for the future is to see if the mainstream players get involved," he added. "And now that is happening."
In an indication that they expect -- or at least hope -- electric vehicles can reach mass-scale market penetration, auto manufacturers have begun collaborating with utility companies to investigate the implications of connecting these two industries that have been almost entirely separate since their births.
Meanwhile, pilot projects are springing up across the country, following Kempton's lead. Companies are seeking to commercialize the necessary technology and governments and utilities have begun to ponder regulatory frameworks that will be necessary for the shift.
Helping the grid handle its ups and downs
Vehicle-to-grid would benefit the grid because under the current system electricity supply must match demand, immediately. Otherwise, there is the possibility for temporary brownouts, even blackouts.
"Right now, electricity is a product that is produced and consumed at the same time," said Steven Letendre, a professor at Green Mountain College in Vermont who has modeled the economics of vehicle-to-grid.
Because demand stems from the activities of consumers, and these activities fluctuate constantly, the grid must adjust continuously. That's not only to ensure a continuous power supply, and not waste excess electricity, but also to keep power flowing at the right frequency.
The grid sends signals to power plants every 4 seconds to tell them to make the minute up-or-down adjustments to their generating capacity, based on the needs of the grid.
Vehicle-to-grid proponents say this could just as easily be done by drawing electricity from or putting it into storage. "Right now, the power grid has ... virtually very little storage," Letendre said.
Studies show that electric vehicles could be plugged into the grid as much as 20 hours a day on average. If enough of the cars were out there, they would be a ready source of storage.
The second-to-second adjustments are called frequency regulation, and utility regulators pay power generators to provide the service. Typically, the units added to balance the grid must be at least 1 megawatt.
In 2007, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order that would allow electric storage facilities to be treated equally to generation.
In Kempton's plan, cars would be aggregated so that their batteries would collectively form 1 megawatt of capacity. Together, they would constitute a frequency generation unit and they would get paid. Letendre estimates that a single electric car owner could earn $2,000 to $4,000 a year by selling power from his car back to the grid.
That would not only benefit electricity consumers, but effectively lower the price of the vehicles to buyers. Experts say the cars' relatively high prices are the largest barrier to their entry into the market.
A longer-term application would be for the cars to provide storage for wind and solar energy, which are intermittent. That would eliminate the need for renewable energy plants to be built with back-up fossil-fuel generators -- but also prevent excess energy during times of high wind or solar availability from being wasted. For example, the wind often blows most strongly at night, when power demands are low.
"It's kind of a way of increasing the amount of renewables we can use, we can tap into," said Jon Lilley, the vehicle-to-grid project coordinator and a graduate student in Kempton's lab.
Last month, Denmark announced a plan to use vehicle-to-grid to help an island of 40,000 people become entirely wind-powered. Kempton was a key adviser on the project.
A stimulus to get the juice flowing
Though interest in V2G has been around for years, few cars have been hooked up. Isolated tests have been done by companies like the large West Coast utility Pacific Gas and Electric and AC Propulsion of San Dimas, Ca., the electric vehicle manufacturer that supplied Kempton's first car.
Now interest is beginning to grow. In Boulder counto, Co., three plug-in hybrids -- converted Toyota Priuses -- will begin sending electricity back to the grid in the fall, under the county's smart grid progrm. Talks of pilot projects are taking place in Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island.
This year, two utility companies in Delaware were the first in the country to authorize vehicle-to-grid.
Kempton, meanwhile, has put in an application for $29 million of federal economic stimulus funding that would be used to fund a demonstration project of 450 vehicles. Much of the money would go toward subsidizing vehicles from AC Propulsion, a company that currently sells cars for $70,000 down to $40,000.
Kempton says this will make a big difference for increasing the volume of the vehicles. Less than 20 have been sold so far.
"I'm quite confident that we can sell 450 at that level," he said.
Those 450 vehicles would be aggregated into frequency regulation units in the mid-Atlantic region, New England and California. In exchange for the subsidy, buyers would be required to participate in the vehicle-to-grid program.
Kempton says the major auto companies have not expressed serious interest in vehicle-to-grid. "It's ridiculous," he said. "These Fortune 500 companies are scared to try this stuff out."
"We think the best way to get this rolling is to ... show them that it works," Kempton says.
Automakers interested but uncertain
Paul Denholm, an expert on the grid and electricity storage at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, said it's too early to tell just how good a technology vehicle-to-grid is.
"There's a lot of uncertainty about the role of vehicle-to-grid," he said. "You're going to find a lot of people out there that have some legitimate concerns about the difficulties of making a business case for vehicle-to-grid. This is not an easy technology to implement. This is going to take a lot of work for it to get out there."
For example, he said, many auto companies are concerned that increasing the charge and discharge cycles on a battery will shorten its lifetime.
Furthermore, there have to be regulatory changes and, more importantly, a computerized system for coordinating the communication between the cars and the grid.
Then there's the fact that electric vehicles are not even on the mass market yet.
Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt, agrees that vehicle-to-grid is a far cry from commercialization. But he says that GM is interested.
A year and half ago, GM began partnering with EPRI and 50 utility companies around the country to start researching questions surrounding putting cars onto the grid. Ford Motor Co. and Daimler AG have similar, if smaller collaborations. Chhaya -- who previously worked on hybrid and plug-in-hybrid vehicles for 10 years at GM -- would not give the names of other companies EPRI has spoken to. But, he said, all major companies "that we have spoken with have shown interest."
Posawatz said that GM's first priority is to get the cars on the market and to test the integrity of the battery, which it wants to have a 10-year lifetime.
"Once you have these vehicles in the marketplace for other reasons, if they can stand on their own, then it makes sense to have this additional application," Chhaya said.
A Dozen Reasons for Clean Energy
By Daniel J. Weiss, Erica Goad
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) recently announced that she plans to introduce her version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, H.R. 2454, immediately following August recess. “The bill will be introduced when we get back,” Sen. Boxer told reporters. “We're going to use the extra time we have to make it the best it can be.”
And what will that bill look like when she introduces her version of the bill? Sen. Boxer was coy, telling E&E News only saying that “I think the majority of the allocations will be spelled out,” meaning that the bill would have a distribution plan for the pollution allowances for ratepayer rebates, trade sensitive industries, and other recipients.
The House of Representatives in late June passed its clean-energy jobs and global warming bill. It would require utilities to generate electricity from the wind, sun and other renewable sources, reduce energy demand via efficiency, and require all major emitters of greenhouse gases to buy an allowance for every ton of pollution they emit. It is essential that the Senate follows the lead of the House by swiftly enacting comprehensive clean energy legislation to create jobs, cut our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, and reduce pollution to protect our planet.
To help focus the Senate on the importance of Sen. Boxer’s forthcoming legislation, here are 12 key reasons why the Senate should act on the House passed American Clean Energy and Security Act.
1. It would create 1.7 million new jobs
The legislation would create 1.7 million new jobs by unlocking billions of dollars in industry and public investment because of measures included in the House legislation and the economic stimulus legislation passed earlier this year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to a recent University of Massachusetts report sponsored by CAP, these job gains would be enough to reduce the unemployment rate in today’s economy by about one full percentage point. John Doerr, one of the nation’s leading venture capitalists, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: “These policies are straightforward; we've seen them work in states and in other countries. In Denmark, policies, including prices on carbon and building and appliance efficiency standards, have made a huge difference since 1970. It started their wind industry. Today, one-third of all terrestrial wind turbines in the world come from Denmark. And Denmark’s energy technology exports were more than $10 billion. That’s from a country with a smaller population than Missouri, Tennessee or Michigan. It has resulted in jobs; last year, the unemployment rate in Denmark last year was only 2 percent.”
2. It would reduce oil use
According to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy the House bill would save at least 240 million barrels annually of oil. Since our dependence on foreign oil threatens our national security, reducing oil use would not only be better for the environment but for the safety of the American people.
3. It would reduce electric bills
The Environmental Protection Agency determined recently that the American Clean Energy and Security Act would lead to a 7 percent decline in electric bills due to energy efficiency measures by 2020. The report noted that “increased energy efficiency and reduced energy demand simultaneously reduces primary energy needs by 7 percent in 2020, 10 percent in 2030, and 12 percent in 2050.” By 2020, the efficiency standards in the bill would save consumers $29 billion. The average family would save $84 per year in lower electricity bills. This means that consumers would be spending comparatively less on their utility bills simply because the houses they live in would be less wasteful.
4. It provides special protection for low-income households
The Congressional Budget Office projects that households with an average income of $18,000–in the lowest income quintile–would see an average net benefit of $40 annually by 2020. The clean-energy legislation would also sell some pollution allowances and use the money to provide additional assistance to low income households to help pay for their energy bills if necessary.
5. It would cost the average household a postage stamp per day
The cost of a nationwide carbon cap-and-trade program would ultimately amount to an average of $175 per household annually, or about the cost of a postage stamp per day. Along with this estimate, the CBO emphasized that the figure “includes the cost of restructuring the production and use of energy and of payments made to foreign entities under the program, but it does not include the economic benefits and other benefits of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the associated slowing of climate change.”
6. It would spur investments in clean energy
A number of large energy companies including Exelon Corp., Symantec Corp., PSEG Inc., and others support the American Clean Energy and Security Act “because certainty and clear rules of the road enable us to plan, build and innovate our businesses. It would drive investment into cost-saving, energy-saving technologies, and would create the next wave of jobs in the new energy economy."
Inducements to invest include a nationwide renewable energy standard that requires energy companies to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020, and requires utilities to reduce electricity demand by 5 percent via efficiency measures. The legislation also provides a total of $190 billion through 2025 for investments in clean energy, efficiency programs and deployment of top-notch energy technologies.
7. It would create new income streams for farmers
There is great potential to generate clean energy in rural areas. The Department of Energy estimates that if 5 percent of the nation’s energy comes from wind power by 2020, rural America could see $60 billion in capital investment. Farmers and rural landowners would derive $1.2 billion in new income, and see 80,000 new jobs created over the next two decades. Leasing land for a single utility-scale wind turbine could provide a farmer with about $3,000 a year in income.
According to Ohio State University’s Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, agricultural lands have the potential to store the equivalent of one-third of the carbon pollution produced in the United States. The Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases of Colorado State notes that “increasing soil carbon through soil carbon sequestration improves agricultural soil quality, fertility, and productivity…while reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.”
The Energy Information Administration has estimated the value of agricultural offsets to be close to $24 billion annually. Farmers have the ability to reap benefits from leasing their land and from agricultural carbon offsets. For example, a new 107-megawatt wind farm in Minnesota yielded $500,000 per year in lease payments to farmers.
8. It would protect farmers from energy-related price increases
Agriculture is exempt from the greenhouse gas pollution reduction requirements in H.R. 2454. It also includes a provision to aid farmers should they face a reduction in purchasing power due to higher energy costs (see Title IV, Section 432 of the House bill). Under the bill, rural residents so affected would become eligible for monthly cash refunds.
9. It would protect energy intensive, trade-sensitive industries
The American Clean Energy and Security Act allocates 15 percent of its pollution allowances to industries that use significant amounts of energy and face international competition. This provision would protect them from competition from lower cost imports from countries that do not have greenhouse gas pollution reduction programs. This includes the cement, paper, chemical, aluminum, and steel industries. Estimated total value of the near-term allocation pool is around $100 billion by 2020, with the allowances for trade-sensitive industries consisting of $13 billion by 2020.
10. It would cut greenhouse gas pollution
The 17 percent reduction in carbon pollution required by 2020 would cut 2.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020 compared to inaction. Removing that much carbon is comparable to taking 500 million cars off the road, which is twice the number of U.S. cars today, and half the cars expected in the world in 2020.
The bill would shrink deforestation as well, which is essential because tropical forests help to absorb greenhouse gas pollution and remove atmospheric carbon. A small percentage of emissions allowances are set aside for projects in other countries that would reduce deforestation. The EPA estimates that the allowances to reduce deforestation would reduce pollution by one billion tons annually by 2015—equivalent to taking over 200 million cars off the road.
11. It would create a safety net for displaced workers
In the unfortunate event that some workers lose their jobs in high polluting industries, the bill has a $150 million workforce retraining program (Title IV, Subtitle B in the House bill). A worker can also petition the Secretary of Labor for payment of 70 percent of lost wages for three years, as well as job training, and health care premium payments.
This program is similar to the one in the Clean Air Act of 1990. This program authorized $250 million annually to the Job Training Partnership Act to retrain coal miners who lost their jobs due to demand reductions for high sulfur coal, which was responsible for acid rain pollution. Actual job losses were 75 percent lower than predicted, with a grand total of 2,363 people applying for aid so program costs were much lower. This would likely occur under the greenhouse gas pollution reduction program, but it is important to provide this safety for those who may be affected.
12. The American Clean Energy and Security Act is widely supported
Nuclear power companies, a civil rights organization, and a utility trade association have little in common. Yet the Nuclear Energy Institute, the NAACP, and the Edison Electric Institute all support prompt comprehensive action to create clean energy, reduce oil use, and cut carbon pollution. The American Clean Energy and Security Act is a comprehensive, consensus bill that is supported by businesses, labor unions, and civic organizations. It supporters include the following businesses, labor unions, faith groups and civic organizations.
Ritter touts Colorado clean-energy companies before Congress
Denver Business Journal
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter praised companies working on clean-energy projects in the state -- including Abound Solar, Ascent Solar and Vestas -- in testimony before a congressional committee Tuesday on the economic benefits of renewable-energy development.
"The new energy economy is energizing Colorado’s entire economy, even in the worst downturn in 75 years," Ritter told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. "This didn’t happen by accident. It happened through a concerted and aggressive effort, and the new jobs we’re creating are real and they are happening in every corner of Colorado."
Also scheduled to testify before the Senate panel Tuesday were Ritter's fellow governors Christine Gregoire of Washington, Jon Corzine of New Jersey and John Hoeven of North Dakota -- all representing states that have made a point of promoting "new energy" development as an engine for job creation and economic stimulus.
Ritter later told reporters on a conference call that he’d like to see the Senate’s version of a climate change bill support the greater use of natural gas, which emits less amounts of carbon dioxide gases compared to coal and oil.
"I believe that it [the House's Waxman-Markey climate bill] gives short shrift to natural gas," Ritter said. “There’s one mention of natural gas, a research project for converting to natural gas fleets. I believe there
should be far more for natural gas and production of natural gas because it’s a cleaner-burning carbon fuel."
Sen. Mark Udall, also a Democrat, said on the conference call: “We’re going to work very hard on a natural gas title in our Senate product. There's a number of baseload natural gas [power] plants that aren't in operation today because they’ve been disadvantaged."
Minnesota should capitalize on wind energy
By: Briana Bierschbach Staff Writer
Minnesota can capitalize on wind energy and spark job growth in a down economy with the right amount of government support, according to a recent report by think tank Minnesota 2020.
Minnesota, the fourth largest provider of wind energy in the nation, could create more than 2,200 jobs and generate about $9 billion in economic development over the next several decades by constructing 4,059 megawatts of wind generated power.
A good portion of the jobs created would be in the manufacturing sector, according to the report, an industry that has been hit hard during the recession.
In order to achieve this, the report states that Minnesota should focus on localizing wind turbine building and ownership, which has a greater impact on stimulating local economy.
Since 2005, Minnesota rapidly increased its wind capacity, growing by about 31 percent each year.
Minnesota is already working to use more renewable energy, as legislation mandates that utilities purchased must generate 25 percent of their power from renewable resources by 2025, much of which can come from wind power, according to the report.
Congress May Restore Hydrogen Funding
By Jim Motavalli
Congress appears close to restoring the $100 million in funding for hydrogen research that Steven Chu, the energy secretary, had cut from his budget in May.
The House of Representatives voted 320-97 last Friday to approve $26.9 billion for the Energy Department, including $153 million for hydrogen and fuel cells in the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program, plus $40.45 million for hydrogen from coal.
The Senate Appropriations Committee was even more bullish on hydrogen, approving $190 million for the program. Reconciliation of the two budget figures (assuming the full Senate leaves the $190 million intact) could result in a final amount greater than the $168 million for fuel cells in the 2009 Energy Department budget.
It is uncertain when the Senate will vote on hydrogen funding. Robert Rose, executive director of the United States Fuel Cell Council, said he hoped a vote would occur in the next two weeks before the Senate’s scheduled recess in early August.
“We’re encouraged,” said Patrick Serfass, a spokesman for the National Hydrogen Association. “Congress has shown that it is very well educated about these technologies. It sees the benefits of hydrogen and fuel cells, and understands we need to pursue a portfolio of technologies, not just one or two. Frankly, it’s too early to choose.”
Mr. Serfass added that the proposed budget contained no cuts for battery manufacturing or research, “and the fuel-cell community thinks that’s a good thing. But you can’t design a family-sized long-range vehicle with just batteries — you need something else, and we think that something else is hydrogen fuel cells.”
In May, Mr. Chu argued for cutting hydrogen funding because the technology seemed to be always decades away from reaching the market.
“We asked ourselves,” Mr. Chu said at the time, “‘Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?’ The answer, we felt, was ‘no.’ ”
But according to Larry Burns, General Motor’s retiring fuel-cell champion, cutting hydrogen funding would hurt American car companies.
“Japan and Germany are moving forward with their government-funded programs,” he said in a recent interview. “This is strategically important. Do we want to wake up five years from now and say, ‘What happened to us?’ ”
On Monday, Toyota told Ward’s Auto (via Autoblog Green) that its first production hydrogen vehicle in 2015 would be priced low enough to “shock” the industry. Economies of scale will bring costs down, the company said.
AWSL news AH:
Atlantic Wind & Solar Seeking to Convert North American Automotive Stakeholders Over to the Manufacture of Renewable-Energy Wind Turbines to Address Global Shortages
* Source: Atlantic Wind & Solar Inc.
* On Monday July 20, 2009, 5:04 pm EDT
Atlantic Wind & Solar Inc. (Pinksheets:AWSL - News) is pleased to announce it is continuing to make progress through formal discussions with Provincial Canadian Government Officials and former executives of the North American Automotive supply industry, in a concerted effort to utilize transferable skill-set labor, specialized industrial machinery and equipment, and existing manufacturing facilities formerly utilized by the automotive sector.
Mr. Brent O'Connor, AWSL's Investor Relations Director, states, "In light of the recent slump in the North American Automotive sector, and against a background of soaring demand for key Renewable Energy components, AWSL has identified an extraordinary opportunity to utilize existing, underused, transferable resources from one sector, the Automotive Industry, to another, i.e. the manufacture of Wind Power turbines and other Renewable Energy components."
Creating what could be known as the world's first automated fabrication process for the manufacturing of wind turbines, it is AWSL's intention to replicate an automotive assembly line type of system, which theoretically will be capable of manufacturing up to 1 complete (1.5 Mw) wind turbine per hour, based upon an 8 hour, daily work shift. (An estimated 2,080 windmills per year)
A production rate of this magnitude would greatly enhance AWSL's potential to become a major supplier of wind turbines to meet the rapidly growing global demand. The highly efficient assembly line manufacture of technologically advanced wind turbines could vault AWSL into the position of "manufacturer of choice" for both governments and electrical utilities companies globally.
Mr. Thomas Cleland, Atlantic's Chief Technology Officer, also commented, "Implementing clean energy alternatives isn't as affordable as building new coal power plants, at least not yet... Our products have been designed to decrease the initial capital investment costs associated with building new renewable energy parks, while simultaneously reducing the overall future cost of electricity (COE)."
The project envisions a major contribution to Ontario manufacturing, employment and exports.
About Atlantic Wind & Solar Inc. (AWSL)
Through focused management, strong R&D, state-of-the-art proprietary technology and exclusive licenses, Atlantic Wind & Solar Inc. is poised for rapid growth at the forefront of the massive global shift towards environmentally friendly, economical renewable energy. The Company is positioned to achieve significant inroads into several key sectors of the annual $200 billion renewable energy boom that is accelerating across North America and around the world.
ANTICIPATED AVENUES FOR AWSL's EXTRAORDINARY GROWTH POTENTIAL
�
-- Global marketing of patent pending and/or proprietary
Conversion/Inversion electrical power technology and other technologies
that promise to greatly increase energy from existing and future Wind
turbines and Solar panels, potentially heralding a quantum leap forward for
the practicality of harnessing clean renewable energy.
-- A Joint Venture with a company that has designed the next generation
of high-efficiency commercial wind turbines whereby AWSL will be
manufacturing these revolutionary "Intelligent Turbines" in Canada for
domestic and export markets.
-- Direct ownership in Wind & Solar "Energy Parks" that will showcase the
Company's exciting technologies.
For more information and/or to subscribe for regular news updates from Atlantic Wind & Solar, visit: www.atlanticwindandsolar.com
Get SSHO on your radar for the AM. Afterhours news today:
South Shore Resources Inc. Completes Initial Testing of HyProStarHydrogen Generating Modules Utilizing the Ontario Drive CleanEmissions Program
Jul 20, 2009 16:20:18 (ET)
-- South Shore Resources Inc. (PINKSHEETS: SSHO) (FRANKFURT: SXB) (WKN: A0LD9H) is pleased to announce that it has completed initial testing on the HyProStar Series of Hydrogen Generating Modules.
The objective of the testing was to evaluate the impact that the HyProStar Series of Hydrogen Generating Modules has on fuel economy, fuel efficiency and engine emissions.
The Ontario Drive Clean Emissions Program was utilized along with the exact same driving route for both the Without Unit and With Unit test drives.
The MPG and Emission Testing were recorded and completed for both the Without Unit and With the HyProStar Unit installed.
Test Results Are Summarized Below:
1993 Chevrolet 1/2 Ton Truck V8 Engine: Mileage & Emission Test
Without Unit: 20.04 MPG
With Unit: 25.87 MPG
There was a 29.09% increase in MPG.
There was a 22.54% fuel savings.
The Following Emissions Were Reduced By The Percentages Below
CO % Emissions -36.36%
NO ppm Emissions -14.50%
HC ppm Emissions -58.82%
2002 Volkswagen Cabrio: Mileage & Emission Test
Without Unit: 29 MPG
With Unit: 35 MPG
There was a 20.69% increase in MPG.
There was a 17.14% fuel savings.
The Following Emissions Were Reduced By The Percentages Below
CO % Emissions Original Reading 0
HC ppm Emissions Original Reading 0
NO ppm Emissions -96.62%
The results of the testing indicate on both vehicles that the HyProStar Series of Hydrogen Generating Modules has increased fuel economy and fuel efficiency, while at the same time lowering engine emissions.
South Shore believes its HyProStar Series of Hydrogen Generating Modules are an obvious aftermarket alternative to Rising Fuel Prices and Harmful Greenhouse Gases.
To learn more about the HyProStar Hybrid Conversion Kit, please visit: www.southshoreresourcesinc.com .
Been in LLEG for over 2 years now, great short and long term play. Gotta hold a core position cause you never know when great news is going to pop it. Thanks also for improving on an already great board over there.
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Green technology, renewable energy, and eco-friendly retail products are not only the future, but are becoming a big part of the present. With your help we can make this board THE resource for green companies on iHub. With world leaders and international organizations pushing harder than ever before for renewable and clean energy resources, there is no better sector to invest in. All green companies and green forums are welcome here in addition to articles and any relevant industry news. Let's do the best DD on iHub!
Thank you!
Cooling towers for geothermal power rise above the barren desert at Raser Technologies' Thermo Power Plant. (SOURCE: AP/Douglas C. Pizac)
In WindTronics' lab, a protoype of the Honeywell Wind Turbine, which is 6 feet tall and weighs 95 pounds. (Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)
TRIPLE ZERO GREEN PICKS
Encore Energy Systems (ENCS) : PPS as of 7/17/09 is .0002 -- Green Fuel Technology
Resource Group International Inc. (RSGR) : PPS as of 7/17/09 is .0001 -- Wind & Solar Energy
Evolution Fuels, Inc. (EVFL) : PPS as of 7/17/09 is .0002 -- Alternative Fuels that include Bio-diesel and Ethanol
Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. (LLEG) : PPS as of 7/17/09 is .0007 -- Striving to be leader in Bio-fuel
Renewal Fuels, Inc (RNWF) : PPS as of 7/20/09 is .0008 -- Establishing relationships with Bio-fuel entities
American Security Resources Corp (ARSC) : PPS as of 7/20/09 is .0006 -- Development of clean energy using hydrogen cells
Sympowerco (SYMW) : PPS as of 7/20/09 is .0007 -- Focused on development of clean power and energy solution
Sunrise Consulting Group Inc (SNRS) : PPS as of 7/30/09 is .0001 -- Entering U.S. PV solar market (solar energy)
DOUBLE ZERO GREEN PICKS
The Tirex Corporation (TXMC): PPS as of 7/20/09 is .0016 -- Patented Cryogenic Tire Recycling System
U S MICROBICS (BUGS) : PPS as of 7/20/09 is .0014 -- Environmental technologies for soil, groundwater, and carbon remediation
Dakshidin Corporation (DKSC) : PPS as of 7/20/09 is .0027 -- Renewable energy systems focusing on wind power
Syndication Inc (SYNJ) : PPS as of 7/23/09 is .002 -- PINNACLE ENERGY PROJECT -- wind power, solar power, microwave plasma
Xynergy Corporation (XYNH) : PPS as of 7/30/09 is .0037 -- Hydrogen splitting technology (water energy)
American Green Group, Inc. (AMNE) : PPS as of 7/30/09 is .0078 -- products and technology (INFINITE R) to revolutionize housing insulation
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