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SunTechnics and SunPower Sign Distribution Partnership for High-Efficiency Solar Power Modules
http://www.stockhouse.com/news/news.asp?tick=CY&newsid=2344128
Chinese delegation visited GES
translated -unedited
On 22 June
Within the framework of the visit of the Chinese delegation
of the Xinjiang- uigur autonomous region OF C.P.R. - CHINESE PEOPLES'
REPUBLIC headed by the Deputy Chairman of people government
(vice-governor) Chang Chou into the Siberian federal region took place
the reception of guests on Novosibirsk GES.
The director OF GES Victor Sershun introduced the members of
delegation to the history of Novosibirsk GES, which will soon note its fiftieth anniversary. But its technological guarantee corresponds to contemporary
international standards, and many technical innovations of our GES were used with the building
later and more contemporary "neighbors".
Today in the work GES are begun to operate 7 hydraulic generators on
65 MW, which gives to 455 MW city in summer, and to 90 MW in winter, since this is the station of seasonal regulation. Is not less important, that Obskiy reservoir, with the size of 200 km into length and 22 km into the width, it is the most important reservoir of drinking water for Novosibirsk
and its surrounding it is municipal and in this quality completely
necessary for megapolis.
In the period of spring flood the water level in by Novosibirsk
reservoir rises to the mark 113,5 m of normal support level, which corresponds to the volume of the reservoir of 8,8 billion cubic
meters in the Baltic measuring system. As a result of autumn-winter wear the water level in the reservoir is
reduced to the level 108,5 m, t.e. the depth of the wear of water is equal to five meters.
Mr. the vice-governor of the province of Xinjiang- uigur region Chang
Chou said, that it grew near Chinese GES, built by Russian power station builders, and our GES reminds one of native, Chinese, and also about many joint projects of Russia and China. It expressed admiration by cleanliness and by the well-tended nature
GES and wished to the power engineers of the successes of every kind.
It is always pleasant, when foreign guests highly value the work of power engineers
Summer repairs without turning offs of the hot water
translation unedited
This task was placed before itself the Novosibirsk of power
engineering. And they successfully solve it. Positive changes in the supply with hot water of novosibirtsy felt
already by this spring. On the traditional spring tests of urban heating mains the inhabitants
were opoveshcheny previously. It communicated, that in the period of tests hotter the water supply will be ended
maximum on four days. Turning offs of hot water over the declared periods practical it did
not become. But the periods of turning offs sharply were reduced.
Repair was excellently carry ouied on the street of factory. Here along the roadway changed the pipes of the large diameter of main
teplovoda with the length of 300 meters. Work was conducted in two changes. Specialists comment on repair company.
Yu. Toy pistol, i.o. the chief engineer OF JOINT STOCK COMPANY "novosibirskenergo":
- the creation of new enterprise helped to principally in a new way
organize planned repair period. It is earlier for the modernization of this extensive section into 300
meters, as at the factory, not less than three weeks departed. All this time the inhabitants of houses, fed by hot water from this section of main, they sat without the hot water. Now, with the united owner of main and interblock networks, the possibility to use a unique system of Novosibirsk heat-mains
appeared, which makes it possible to feed users along other routes to the period
of the repair of basic. This diagram without turning off of users is used today practically in
all main sections, where repair work are conducted. Furthermore, we developed the new technology of the replacement of pipes in the
extensive sections, which gives the considerable savings of time. It they are in that, that the pipes for the replacement are prepared and are welded in the
lash previously on the edge of heating main. Then the replacement of old pipe to the new occurs during the week. But after replacement, without waiting until the end of works on the isolation of new pipe, to the filling in of heating main, on this section they release hot water. This technology reduces the periods of turning off to one week. Certainly, to use during the repair zakol'tsovannost' of the majority of urban
main routes, in order not to disconnect during their repair of users, - the matter is very complex. It is abutted against complex hydraulics of our routes, which must be considered. But we go to this. Especially as this possibility appeared with the creation of united
teplotransportnoy company "novosibirskgorteploenergo". Moreover, united enterprise for the operation of main and interblock networks
made it possible to sharply reduce the period of turning off of users
to the period of the repair of the sections of interblock networks. We formed the graphs of repair thus, so that the periods of the repair of supply mains would coincide with
the periods of the repair of interblock networks, fed from the overhauled main routes. This makes it possible to reduce the periods of turning off of users
to one week, during which is overhauled immediately the section of main route and
the section of interblock route adjacent to it. When by operation and with repair dealt different departments, to use a similar diagram it was impossible. Much time would depart to different interdepartmental agreements.
The Director-General OF THE PRIVATELY HELD COMPANY Of
"novosibirskenergospetsremont" A. Pronyushkin:
- in this case one should add, that appeared the united contractor in the person of our enterprise, which accomplishes repair of both categories of the routes: and main, and interblock. Certainly, in the present year the volumes sharply grew in connection with the
fact, that now we is achieved and the repair of interblock networks. But all resources for these volumes exist. It is nowadays planned to modernize 273 sections of interblock
networks. Their length of 26,8 kilometers. By the main routes one must replace the pipes of large diameter with a
length of 4,9 kilometers. In addition to this, we conduct works at the construction of new supply mains from the
Novosibirsk TETs-5 under the starting at the end of this year of new
sixth power unit, à òàêæå ðåêîíñòðóêöèþ ðÿäà íàñîñíûõ ñòàíöèé è öåíòðàëüíûõ òåïëîâûõ ïóíêòîâ (ÖÒÏ). Since the beginning of the year we already completed reconstruction
four TSTP.
The Director-General OF JOINT STOCK COMPANY
"novosibirskgorteploenergo" A. Kozhin:
- the creation of new enterprise, exploiting simultaneously main and interblock networks, - this is significant step forward in the reformation and company
herself "novosibirskenergo", and the municipal service system of Novosibirsk. The new principles of the operation (including of planned and special
repairs) of entire complex of the urban heating systems (with
exception of intra-house - they they remained in conducting of housing
and utilities services) - this, first of all, the considerable savings of operating costs, time to the repair work and, that is important for eksplutatsionshchikov
"novosibirskgorteploenergo", the additional realization of hot water in summer. Let us recall, that in the adjacent cities it as before is disconnected to a month or
two. And users do not pay this service, which bypasses power engineers not into one kopeck of losses.
The united owner above all heating mains - this is still and
qualitatively new responsibility. To now it not on whom shift - for entire complex with respect to the
guarantee of normal functioning of main and interblock networks bears
responsibility one company. And for their qualitative and rapid repair - also one company - united
contractor. Financing all repair work occurs due to the enterprise, it noted A. Kozhin, is comprised the graph of the entering of means to contractor. It is carried out by 100 percent. This is also one of the necessary conditions for the rapid and
qualitative fulfillment of repair work. For guaranteeing the special reliability of the system of heat supply
after the completion of all works on repair and modernization of
heating mains at the end of August will be carry ouied the still some
tests of networks for development and eliminating the "weak" places
before beginning heating season.
But thus far for the elongation of many kilometers of the heating
mains of Novosibirsk continue the stressed repair work.
the Press- service
17 June 2004
Solar energy to power Swiss football (soccer stadium)
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=511&sid=5025379
The sun may have failed to shine on Switzerland’s Euro 2004 campaign, but the nation’s footballers will be looking to harness its energy now they are back on home soil.
The largest solar panel ever mounted on a football ground is being built at the new national stadium, which is currently under construction in the capital, Bern.
The biggest part of the building project was officially completed on Friday and the stadium is on schedule to be inaugurated in 400 days time.
Half of the roof has been finished, and workers have begun work on the inside of the site. The grass will also be sown on the playing field this autumn.
The stadium complex will house offices, shops, apartments and two schools. Around 80 per cent of the office and commercial space has been already rented out.
Initial scepticism
The solar installation on the roof itself is costing SFr10 million ($8 million) and will produce enough power to cover the annual energy consumption of around 300 households.
“It is a pioneering project, and we hope to be able to give solar energy a boost,” said Sebastian Vogler, a spokesman of BKW FMB Energy, which is behind the project.
The company is Switzerland’s leading producer of solar energy. It also operates the country’s biggest solar power station in the northwestern Jura mountains.
Vogler told swissinfo that the scheme faced a fair bit of scepticism when it was first touted – from both the stadium owners and nearby residents.
But the project has the stamp of approval from the main promoters of solar energy in western Switzerland.
“It will become a landmark because of its sheer size,” said Jacques Bonvin of Courant Vert.
“People don’t really need to be persuaded [of the benefits of solar power]; what is far more difficult is to get the message across to politicians,” he added.
Pioneers
Switzerland has been at the forefront of solar energy in Europe for the past 20 years. The first house with solar panels was built in the southern Ticino region in 1982.
Efforts to promote solar energy have also gained ground in other European countries, as well as in China and Japan.
Portugal plans to put the world’s biggest solar power station on line in 2009, built at a cost of €250million (SFr379 million) and creating 1,150 jobs.
The project at the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf is a little more modest, but it will produce more than one megawatt of energy and set a new record: it will be the world’s biggest solar installation at a sports facility.
Showcase project
BKW FMB Energy plans to use it as a showcase for the economic, technical and environmental benefits of solar energy.
An estimated 12-15,000 people a day are expected to visit the stadium, its restaurants, shops and conference rooms.
The installation is being completed in two stages. During the first phase, around 8,000 square metres of solar panels will produce a maximum of 850 kilowatts.
The second stage will see a further 4,000 square metres of panels added, generating an additional 450 kilowatts.
Details of the sales strategy for “1to1 Energy Sun Star” have yet to be announced, but the company said it already had pledges from more than 50 interested parties to buy solar energy.
Answering challenge of a warming planet
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-ed.le.qmwarming26jun26,0,2455022.story?coll=bal-op...
It's a slow dawn for green and clean solar power
Its increased use depends on one factor: Can its costs compete with electricity from power stations?
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/techscience/story/0,4386,258370,00.html?
Solar rickshaw inventor rides away with Green Oscar
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/754318.cms
Renewable energy production gets backing of Western guvs
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jun/06232004/utah/178156.asp
McGuinty Government Sparks Interest In Green Electricity
Renewable Energy Request Popular With Electricity Producers
QUEEN'S PARK, ON, June 24 - In a strong response to a government
request, 90 companies have expressed interest in generating renewable
electricity in Ontario, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan announced today.
"We have received expressions of interest that would total approximately
4,400 megawatts of renewable supply, including wind, solar, water, biomass and
landfill gas - that's almost 15 times the amount of clean, green electricity
we're currently seeking," Duncan said. "I am extremely encouraged by the
industry's positive response to this initiative. This is a solid indication
that we can meet our renewable energy targets, and improve the quality of our
air with greener sources of power."
The McGuinty government has set a target of generating five per cent
(1,350 megawatts) of Ontario's total energy capacity from renewable sources by
2007, and 10 per cent (2,700 megawatts) by 2010. Currently, non-hydro
renewable electricity sources make up less than 1 per cent of Ontario's
overall supply mix.
On April 28, the government initiated a Request for Proposals (RFP) for
300 megawatts of renewable electricity to identify interested proponents.
Successful bidders will have until August 25 to submit final proposals. It is
expected that successful projects could be announced before the end of the
year, with new electricity on-line as early as 2006.
"This interest shows that Ontario's electricity producers are innovative
and environmentally conscious, and can provide consumers with renewable energy
choices," Duncan said. "The range of proposals we expect to receive will allow
us to choose the most viable, cost-effective projects for Ontario's
electricity consumers."
The current RFP for renewable energy will be the first of many
opportunities for energy providers. The government recently introduced
legislation to establish the Ontario Power Authority, which would be able to
enter into contracts with energy producers to meet its supply needs and
targets, including targets for renewable energy.
More information on the RFP can be found by visiting
http://www.ontarioelectricityrfp.ca.
ATS opens Canada's first solar energy manufacturing facility; new technology expected to revolutionize industry
TSX: ATA
CAMBRIDGE, ON, June 23 - ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. today
at 2:00 pm will open Canada's first full-scale solar cell manufacturing plant
and unveil its revolutionary new photovoltaic technology that will soon be
produced in commercial quantities from the highly-automated 193,000 square
foot facility located in this southwestern Ontario city.
ATS's Spheral Solar(TM) Power (SSP) technology was developed in Canada in
large part using Canadian engineering and scientific expertise, and is
considered a major breakthrough for the estimated $3.4 billion global solar
photovoltaic industry.
ATS expects its Spheral Solar(TM) technology will accelerate the adoption
of solar energy by consumer and commercial users - and open new mainstream
applications - because it can be manufactured cost-effectively and the
resulting solar cells are pliable, lightweight, durable and can be produced in
a variety of colours that suit seamless integration with traditional building
materials.
With support from Technologies Partnerships Canada, SSP's current
development plans will result in the creation of 200 jobs and the investment
of more than $100 million in the Canadian economy by the end of calendar 2005.
"Spheral Solar(TM) Power is more than the next generation of photovoltaic
technology," said Klaus Woerner, ATS President and Chief Executive Officer,
"it will provide Canada and the world with a clean, renewable energy source
that we believe may eventually rival fossil fuels on economics and ease of
use. This a proud moment for ATS and the broader communities that have
participated in SSP's development because we've put Canada on the map as a
leader in renewable energy innovation."
According to industry forecasts, demand for solar energy will increase at
25% per annum through 2010 driven by growing power consumption, the
requirement for distributed generation and government incentives.
Milfred Hammerbacher, President of Spheral Solar Power said: "Countries
such as Germany, the U.S., and Japan have recognized the importance of
photovoltaic technology by supporting programs that ultimately lower monthly
energy costs for the consumer while, at the same time, reducing dependence and
costs associated with the maintenance of outdated central power generation
plants. It's time Canada and provinces like Ontario get on board and leverage
the innovation and manufacturing capabilities of companies like ATS and become
the world leader in the design and use of distributed energy systems."
SSP Development History
ATS announced it intended to commercialize Spheral Solar(TM) technology
in July 2002 and received funding from Technologies Partnerships Canada for up
to $29.5 million to support SSP's development.
"We've come a long way since then," said Mr. Hammerbacher. "We've
achieved major breakthroughs with the base technology. On our pilot line,
we've successfully created the world's largest crystalline silicon solar cell
with an energy-producing surface four times larger than conventional solar
cells. We've developed a marketing strategy and identified a number of
potential distribution partners around the world. We've successfully recruited
115 experienced people to drive our initiative. We've designed and built some
of the most complex automation ever to assemble our solar cells. And now,
we've opened this state-of-the-art facility. It's been a remarkable journey
and while it will take time for us to realize full value from our efforts,
we're now well along with our commercialization plans."
"This first factory contains a number of innovative manufacturing
processes that our Automation Systems Group designed using our 25 years of
knowledge and expertise," said Mr. Woerner. "It's a showcase facility as much
for its automation as for its solar manufacturing capability and we intend to
make sure potential automation customers get a first-hand look at its
capabilities."
SSP Next Steps
ATS has begun to optimize the 26 individual production processes that are
housed in the factory and SSP is expected to begin shipping products this
summer. The launch will also enable SSP to distribute samples to the more than
50 companies worldwide that are waiting to evaluate the technology. The
factory is designed to be easily scalable when additional production capacity
is required.
"It won't happen over night," said Mr. Woerner, "but we are very
confident that Spheral Solar(TM) Power will accelerate demand for solar energy
and expand Canada's presence in the global photovoltaic marketplace. We can
see the day when our region will become an important economic powerhouse in
the field of photovoltaic, just as it already has in automation."
SSP Factory Capacity
The SSP facility was designed to produce a targeted capacity of 20
megawatts of solar products annually. This is enough to power 6,000 to 8,000
homes every year. Over time, it's envisioned that the facility will increase
its annual capacity to 40 megawatts - enough to power 12,000 to 16,000 solar
rooftop systems.
SSP is expected to make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse
gases. For example, if a single 40 MW SSP factory were used to provide energy
to 12,000 new homes every year through 2030, greenhouse gas emissions would be
reduced by 30 megatonnes over the lifecycle of these systems. 30 megatonnes is
the equivalent of removing 12,000 mid-sized cars from Ontario's roads every
year. Over the same period of time, this one SSP factory would add 1,000
megawatts of new power to Ontario's electrical grid.
Another way to measure SSP's output is this: one barrel of SSP spheres
(which could be produced by the factory every day assuming 40 megawatt
capacity) produces the energy equivalent of 14,000 barrels of oil.
"Today's opening of our Canadian factory, coupled with our foothold in
the European market, leaves us well positioned to exploit the enormous
potential of the major markets in North America, Europe and Asia," said Mr.
Woerner. "With today's announcement, we will start delivering on our
competitive advantages and provide Canadians and consumers around the world
with the products necessary for building a sustainable energy market for the
21st century."
ATS and the Solar Industry
ATS has been active in the photovoltaic industry since acquiring
Photowatt International S.A. of Bourgoin-Jallieu, France in 1997. Since that
time, ATS has applied its automation technology to help turn Photowatt into
one of the few profitable solar energy companies in the world. Photowatt is
now one of the largest solar manufacturers in the world with a leading market
position in Europe.
Spheral Solar(TM) Power (SSP)
Part of ATS's Solar Group, Spheral Solar(TM) Power (www.sspsolar.com) is
in business to develop, manufacture and market the Company's next generation
solar photovoltaic (PV) technology referred to as Spheral Solar(TM) Technology
(SST). SST responds to traditional solar photovoltaic barriers by offering
significantly lower costs than conventional technologies and revolutionary
flexibility that enable a broad number of new market applications: including
solar-imbedded roofing tiles, solar building facades and automobile power
systems. SST is a unique and proprietary technology that is expected to give
ATS a significant competitive advantage in the global marketplace.
Corporate Description
ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (www.atsautomation.com) is the
industry's leading designer and producer of turn-key automated manufacturing
and test systems, which are used primarily by multinational corporations
operating in a variety of industries including: automotive, computer/
electronics, healthcare, and consumer products. The Company also makes
precision components and sub-assemblies using its own custom-built
manufacturing systems, process knowledge and automation technology. Through
Photowatt International S.A., and Spheral Solar(TM) Power Inc., ATS is an
emerging leader in the rapidly growing market for solar energy. ATS employs
approximately 3,800 people at 26 facilities in Canada, the United States,
Europe and Asia-Pacific. The company's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock
Exchange under the symbol ATA.
Rhode Island General Assembly approves requiring more 'green power'
Providence Journal, R.I. - June 25, 2004
Timothy C. Barmann
Jun. 25--The General Assembly has passed a bill that will gradually increase the amount of electricity supplied to Rhode Island from renewable energy sources, such as the sun and wind.
The Clean Energy Act boosts the amount of "green power" to 16 percent by the year 2020. Renewable energy sources, excluding large hydroelectric plants, now supply about 2 percent of the electricity used in Rhode Island.
Supporters say the act will help lower reliance on traditional fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, and will also help reduce air pollution because less of these fuels would be burned to make electricity. The act could, however, result in slight increases in electricity rates, beginning in 2007.
The measure requires that at least 3 percent of retail electricity sales in the state come from renewable resources in 2007. That requirement would increase by 0.5 percent each year in 2008, 2009 and 2010; by 1 percent each year in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014; and by 1.5 percent each year in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. That would raise the amount of renewable energy use to 16 percent of all sources of power.
The renewable electricity could come from solar radiation, wind, the movement of the latent heat of the oceans, the heat of the earth, small hydroelectric and biomass facilities and fuel cells. The power would have to come from "new" renewable energy sources, which is defined as those put into service after 1997.
If Governor Carcieri signs the bill into law, Rhode Island would join at least 13 other states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine, that have similar renewable energy supply requirements.
The House of Representatives passed the bill 62 to 0 Tuesday and the Senate passed it 35 to 0 Wednesday.
"I think it's a great step forward on a new energy path that's smarter and cleaner and is going to mean great things for Rhode Island," said Kate Canada, an advocate for the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group, or RIPIRG.
The act has mustered broad support from some 90 other groups and businesses, including People's Power and Light, Clean Water Action, the AFL-CIO and Save the Bay.
Narragansett Electric had opposed an earlier version of the bill that would have shifted more of the energy supply to renewable energy and would have started the program a year sooner.
The electricity distribution company, which serves 465,000 customers in 38 of Rhode Island's 39 communities, said it now gives the act its "tacit approval."
"We still have significant concern about costs," said Fred Mason, a spokesman for the company. "But we're satisfied the appropriate checks are in place to prevent that from happening."
The main check in place is the Public Utilities Commission, which would have the authority to step in and modify, or even cancel, the planned increments if they would raise prices too high, or if there isn't enough renewable energy to buy.
The Clean Energy Act is an effort to move away from the strong reliance on traditional fossil fuels. It could also help stabilize energy prices.
Canada compared investing more in renewable energy to diversifying a stock portfolio. The greater variety of securities, the less likely the overall portfolio will be affected by fluctuations in the market, she said. By making "green power" a bigger part of the mix, it will help dampen the effects of price spikes associated with rising fuel prices, she said.
The mix right now is very heavy in fossil fuels. Narragansett Electric said the power delivered to its customers for the 12-month period ending June 2003 was produced by coal (20 percent), nuclear energy (27 percent), oil (9 percent), natural gas (33 percent), water (4 percent) and other sources (7 percent).
Renewable energy has not been a larger part of the mix, mainly because it is generally more expensive, supporters say, but by increasing the demand, the supply will grow and prices will come down.
It could even result in lower natural gas prices in future years, Canada said, as demand is lessened because of greater reliance on renewable energy.
Supporters say renewable energy could also boost the local economy by helping companies whose businesses are tied to its production. One example could be TPI Composites of Warren, which makes blades for wind turbines.
Narragansett Electric is projecting that when it is required to buy more renewable electricity, it will cost more. The act allows the company to pass through those costs to customers.
The company predicts that in 2007, the first year of the program, rates will go up by no more than 25 cents a month for the typical residential customer using 500 kilowatts of electricity, according to Thomas Robinson, deputy general counsel for Narragansett Electric.
In the year 2010, the rate increase would rise to about 62.5 cents per month for the typical customer, a 1-percent hike, the company said.
Robinson said that Narragansett predicts that there will not be enough renewable energy available to buy for its customers in the first years of the program.
In that case, the company is required to make an "alternative compliance payment" to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.
The EDC would then use the money to help foster the production of renewable energy.
The payment would be equal to 5 cents per kilowatt hour of renewable electricity that the company was obligated to buy.
Canada said the act provides for the money to be put in a trust fund, overseen by the EDC, and could not be used for other purposes.
-----
To see more of the Providence Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.projo.com
TIR Systems Inc. (TSX: TIR)
http://www.b-tv.com/i/videos/TIR_Sys_Small.wmv
TIR is developing, designing and marketing the core technologies that will allow Solid State Lighting (SSL) to move to the forefront of mainstream lighting. BTV features their technology and projects worldwide that are illuminating buildings in the competitive skylines of the world
Get real on energy .......................................
http://www.denverpost.com/framework/0,1413,36~158~2233517,00.html
By Dave Bowden
Denver
What will our children be thinking when they look back at us 50 years from now? Will they applaud our foresight in creating a sustainable society - or scold us for our wasteful ways?
Citizens in our state will soon be asked to make an important decision on the Colorado Renewable Energy Initiative. It's a gradual increase in clean energy generation from wind and solar power, offsetting electricity from polluting coal plants.
The measure is a modest and achievable call for our state's seven largest utilities to make 10 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2015. Sixteen other states across America have implemented these sensible guidelines to protect public health and promote our national security.
America, with 5 percent of the world's population, consumes 25 percent of the global energy supply. The majority of our oil is imported, much of it from unstable and hostile areas. Projections call for a slow, worldwide depletion of petroleum over several decades.
What about electricity use? America has plenty of inexpensive coal, and Colorado utilities generate 83 percent of our juice by burning it. An increasing amount of our electricity is also generated by price-volatile natural gas (methane), driving up demand, raising the cost and competing with your home furnace for fuel. All these fossil fuels - oil, methane and coal - are the product of ancient processes, created over millions of years. We are burning them in a geological instant. They will never be replaced. We breathe the toxic pollutants that these fuels generate, some visible, others not so apparent.
That stew of particulates lodges in our lungs, creating a sharp increase in respiratory ailments like asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. But what is invisible - and truly insidious - are the billions of tons of carbon dioxide that is very likely changing Earth's climate. The scientific jury is still out on exactly how those gases will affect many vital areas on which our society and economy depend.
After considering these issues of national security, air pollution, bad health effects, depletion, and expense - let's look at the power of the sun and wind. We can capture those in our own backyards. They generate no pollution. The sun will shine for another few billion years. The wind often blows steadily across the Eastern Plains. The price is right: free.
Mile-high Colorado is ablaze with sunlight an average 330 days a year, yet very few of our homes have features to capture that abundant energy. Instead, we burn methane or use electric heat to stay warm, missing out on simple techniques to use the sun's rays. For example, solar buildings use ancient techniques from Mesa Verde: They face south, where thermal mass like stone that's exposed to the sun retains heat for many hours. When shaded in the summer, it stays cool. Solar thermal panels collect the sun's energy and circulate heated fluid for space heating and hot water. Solar photovoltaic panels, which generate emission-free electricity, are cheaper than running the grid down miles of rural roads. In the city, that juice can be sold back to Xcel. Overall, the key to economical solar energy is integrating these systems into the building when it's constructed or renovated, so the cost is amortized into the mortgage. The net savings to homeowners can be substantial.
Wind power is now the world's fastest-growing source of electricity. High-tech utility-scale turbines now generate electricity cheaper than polluting coal plants, using no water. The products of continual innovation, they're able to capture winds that vary from a modest breeze to a gusty 50 mph.
Typically located in rural areas, they offer significant economic development opportunities for farmers and ranchers in hard-hit communities. Earlier this year, Lamar embraced a large wind farm.
Solar and wind power only top the list of many other renewable energy technologies: biomass fuels can be derived from plant materials, and sustainably generated electricity for electrolysis produces clean- burning hydrogen that could replace gasoline.
Fortunately, we have the tools and the clean, inexhaustible sources to reverse the status-quo of fossil fuel consumption. The bad news is that we have not had the collective will to change. America faces stark choices on energy sources and their use. Will we continue to burn finite resources - or will we use nature's clean, renewable energy? Our children might want answers to those questions right now.
Dave Bowden is president of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society. More about energy and sustainability can be learned at the Colorado Renewable Energy Conference, June 25-27 at the University of Denver. For information, go to http://cres-energy.org or call 303-806-5317
Time for an energy revolution ......................
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/0,4386,258232,00.html?
By Janadas Devan
IMAGINE a world without the current 'sprawling and inefficient hodgepodge of pipelines, refineries, and polluting power plants' transporting, processing and burning fossil fuels. Imagine, instead, 'thousands of interconnected yet independent microsystems, each powered by a mix of alternative fuels and technologies, including fuel cells, and each generating energy cleanly, cheaply and locally'.
What would such a world be like?
For one thing, as Mr Paul Roberts points out in his expertly reported recent book, The End Of Oil, such a world would be free of 'manipulative' energy producers and traders. 'After centuries of an increasingly centralised energy economy, controlled by a tiny elite of corporations and investors and protected by governments, energy might again become a very local matter.'
That means producing, transporting and consuming the stuff will no longer be a matter of geopolitics but of local politics. Competition for energy resources will not end, but the fight will take place within local legislative assemblies and markets, not between national armies.
Where energy is concerned, the world would be infinitely better off if all politics were indeed truly local.
The United States will not need to spend billions of dollars fighting distant wars to secure its and the industrialised world's access to oil. In Asia, China and Japan will not need to engage in a potentially dangerous rivalry to secure their access to Russian gas and oil. The world's fortunes will no longer be held hostage to a particularly unstable and angry region - the Middle East - just because it happens to hold two-thirds of the world's known reserves of crude oil. And the diplomatic, economic and military strategies of nearly every nation on the planet will no longer 'continue to be shaped by one overriding objective - to maintain uninterrupted access to a steady stream of (fossil) energy'.
But how realistic is this dream? Is it utopian - meaning 'no place', and therefore imaginary - or is it topian, an actual possibility, if not here and now, at least in the foreseeable future? As it so happens, it is the latter - but only if we so choose.
There are already 'wind farms that can generate enough electricity to power a city', notes Mr Roberts, an expert on energy economics. Research on hydrogen fuel cells has progressed by leaps and bounds in the past decade, as has work on 'biofuel', energy made from grain, crop waste and other organic material.
Engineers are working on literally dozens of renewable energy sources - among them, 'hydropower, solar and wind power, biomass, and geothermal, tidal, and dozens of other intriguing technologies'.
Equally important, technology already exists to radically improve the energy efficiency of current fossil-based systems: Cars, for example, that can go 35km on 1 litre of petrol, and refineries that can turn coal into clean-burning fuel. Toyota's Prius, with its petrol-electric hybrid engine, is doing extremely well on the market this year, its sales doubling compared to the last.
The US, with less than 5 per cent of the world's population, consumes a quarter of the world's total energy. But if there is an average of just 1km-per-litre gain in the fuel efficiency of the US light-vehicle fleet, that alone would be enough to replace entirely America's import of Persian Gulf oil.
Indeed, according to Mr Roberts, 'the amount of oil, electricity, and other energy that could be saved through better efficiency in the US alone - the so-called 'energy efficiency' - is actually larger than America's physical reserves of oil and gas. It is now possible to save more oil than the US could possibly find in the ground, and to do so at a per-barrel cost well below the average market price for oil'.
Ironically, the biggest undiscovered oil field is not buried out there in the Saudi Arabian desert or in the Gulf of Mexico. It is buried in the world's existing buildings, factories and cars, and can be cheaply extracted by making basic fuel-efficiency improvements. In other words, it is not necessary to invade Iraq to secure its oil fields; nations can uncover multiple Iraqs in their own backyards if only they took seriously energy conservancy and efficiency.
Sooner or later, the world will have to. Sooner or later, it will have to take seriously the development of alternative energy sources and build a new energy system not wholly dependent on fossil fuels. Quite apart from concerns over global warming or Middle East stability, the amount of new oil discovered has been declining steadily since 1960, the peak year for oil discoveries.
The problems of creating a new energy regime, however, are tremendous. The existing energy regime is 'an enormous asset', as Mr Roberts notes, worth at least US$10 trillion (S$17 trillion), and it can't be written off overnight. Secondly, despite their huge potential, 'most alternative technologies aren't ready for prime time'. Cars running on hydrogen fuel-cells, for instance, cost many more times than cars running on petrol; solar power costs five times as much as coal-fired power.
Still, there is no doubt that change must and will happen. As Mr Roberts points out, the only question is whether it will be swift and chaotic, forced by circumstance - in which case, there will be widespread disruption, uncertainty and economic loss. Or will it be gradual and smooth, phased in over time - in which case, losses might be minimised and people might learn to adapt.
Business-as-usual is no longer an option.
Hitting the fan: Wind farm could spoil bats' habitat
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/jun04/239429.asp
By SCOTT WILLIAMS
swilliams@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: June 26, 2004
A cash cow or an environmental nightmare?
That question faces a Dodge County community where a We Energies contractor wants to build a power-generating wind farm near a major site for hibernating bats.
Midwest Wind Energy LLC of Chicago is offering to pay more than $200,000 a year to the Town of Herman and Dodge County if the wind farm, capable of powering 20,000 homes, is permitted.
But environmentalists fear that the operation's rotating turbine blades would endanger thousands of bats that congregate nearby in what is regarded as one of North America's largest bat hibernation sites.
Located about an hour northwest of Milwaukee, the site is a former iron ore mine whose four miles of underground tunnels have become a favorite hangout for bats. By some estimates, up to 500,000 of the winged, mouse-like creatures flock there from throughout the Midwest to hibernate each winter.
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The state Department of Natural Resources calls it one of Wisconsin's most crucial wildlife preserves.
David Redell, a wildlife researcher for the University of Wisconsin, which owns the property, said he was shocked to learn that private industry planned a nearby wind farm, with turbine blades chopping through the air some 400 feet off the ground.
"Of all the places, that's not the place I would choose. It could have a significant impact on the population," he said.
Rick James, a spokesman for Milwaukee-based We Energies, said his company did not have a hand in choosing the Dodge County location and sought only proposals from wind farm developers.
We Energies has signed a contract with Midwest Wind to purchase power generated by the proposed 54-megawatt operation.
"We care deeply about the environment. Certainly we are concerned about the potential impact," James said.
Wind farm details unclear
The precise layout of the wind farm has not been divulged, although officials say 33 to 36 turbines will be scattered across perhaps hundreds of acres and will come within 2 miles of the former mine, officially known as the Neda mine.
Midwest Wind President Stefan Noe said his firm will conduct detailed studies of the bat hibernation patterns. If necessary, the project will be redesigned to protect bats from the turbine blades, each measuring more than 250 feet in diameter.
Noe, however, said relocating the project is not an option.
"All of the necessary components come together at this site," he said. "It is essentially a very suitable location for a wind farm."
This is not the first time We Energies has run into trouble trying to expand wind farm technology as an alternative energy source in Wisconsin.
In Fond du Lac County, residents filed a lawsuit this year to block a proposed project by another developer that residents contend will hurt property values, create excessive noise and threaten health.
Dodge County residents have initiated a recall campaign to oust Town of Herman supervisors who are backing Midwest Wind Energy. The Town Board must sign a licensing agreement for the wind farm, but it already has approved a permit for the project.
Kevin Gehring, one of the recall organizers, said town officials are concerned only with collecting fees, not with the project's long-term effects on the rural community of about 1,500 people.
"This project will bring no good to this town," Gehring said.
If the wind farm is built, the developer has committed to pay the county $126,000 a year and the town $90,000 a year.
Town Supervisor Ronald Schellinger agreed that the prospect of $90,000 a year in new revenue is appealing in a town with an annual budget of only $145,000. Townsfolk have urged local government to control property tax increases, Schellinger said, calling this an ideal opportunity.
Official sees exaggeration
He added that the threat to the flocks of migrating bats likely has been exaggerated.
"I believe they can control themselves. They know what's out there," he said.
Concerns about the potential for widespread bat deaths at the wind farm have come from officials at the state Department of Natural Resources, as well as private conservation groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A DNR wildlife specialist said bats could potentially get killed by a wind farm.
Instead of using their eyes to find their way when they fly at night, bats emit a high-pitched sound to navigate their way. The sound bounces off obstacles and lets the bats know they should move around them, said Bill Volkert, a wildlife educator and naturalist for the DNR at Horicon Marsh.
However, that frequency could miss the turbine blades as they rotate, leading the bats to believe there's no obstacle in their way, he said.
"If you have a rather narrow field where you're sensing motion and you have an obstacle that's rotating, there may be a problem," Volkert said.
No state or federal agency has authority to block the wind farm, however, because it does not threaten an endangered species or any known area of wetlands. And Wisconsin utility regulations apply to wind farms only of 100 megawatts or more - nearly twice the size of this one.
David Siebert, acting director of the DNR's office of energy, said he believes the threshold should be lowered to give the state more control.
Dave Sheeley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this story.
Social responsibility .....................................
23.06.2004
Vladimir Kolmogorov, the Director-General OF JOINT STOCK COMPANY "Irkutskenergo"
Social responsibility - this is, first of all, performance of its obligations before the society. For example, taking into account the low incomes of population with the growing
cost of living we attempt to hold in control an increase in the energy-tariffs, in order to help simple people more comfortably to exist. Being infrastructural enterprise, we try to support the competitive ability of our users, so that they have the possibility of designing of work sites. From the point of view of the performance of its tax obligations, "irkutskenergo" is main taxpayer in the territory of Irkutsk region into the local and provincial budgets.
But there are such obligations, which explicitly are nowhere prescribed: this public, charitable activities, financing social programs. In this plan "irkutskenergo" also does not cost in the side - we are the general sponsor of the Irkutsk department of children's fund, the charitable foundation for the "worlds of skill", we finance command on the hockey with the ball "Sibskana- energy", it is exerted aid by others sport, to public organizations. In this year they began to construct artificial ice in Irkutsk.
At the same time it is important for us and our future - we great significance give to the change of generations. We have a special training program of students, which will arrive at us to work, and we finance their instruction. In the past year we took twenty graduates of schools from the most distant corners and in the administrative order decided to train them due to "irkutskenergo", but so that after completion of VUZ - Institute of Higher Education
they not less than five years would work out at home. This is not only development of company - this and the development of territories, where these educated specialists will work.
RUSSIA REFORMS POWER INDUSTRY: CABINET TO DECIDE ON MAMMOTHS BY YEAR'S END
MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) - The federal government held conference today on power industrial progress and reforms. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov addressed the gathering.
The Cabinet has scheduled reform analyses for the year's end. It will blueprint further steps for closer compliance with related laws, and decide on practical patterns to cluster in the big power generating companies, he said.
Effective bylaws are to underlie the reform. The package needs final brushstrokes-an essential task. The government will weigh all the reform pros and cons, take stock of prospective hazards, and estimate the tentative social, economic and financial reform impact. All that will promote sound decisions on corporate mammoths and other aspects of the reform.
In another address, following the conference, the Premier highlighted close public attention to mammoths' future. Available decisions are conceptual and concern many Russian regions, where thermal power stations are situated, to say nothing of United Russian Power Grid Co. stockholders, and all electricity consumers-in fact, the entire nation.
Capital investors have every ground for concern-upcoming reform moves will largely determine their economic strategies.
It is up to the Cabinet now to face the public with explicit replies to a huge range of questions on the power industrial reform, said Mr. Fradkov.
Wind energy has potential to fuel future power needs
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20030810wo42.htm
Lester R. Brown Special to The Yomiuri Shimbun
In 1991, a national wind resource inventory taken by the U.S. Department of Energy startled the world when it reported that the three most wind-rich states of the United States--North Dakota, Kansas and Texas--had enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs. Now a new study by a team of engineers at Stanford University reports that the wind energy potential is actually substantially greater than that estimated in 1991.
Advances in wind turbine design since 1991 enable turbines to operate at lower wind speeds, to harness more of the wind's energy, and to harvest it at greater heights--dramatically expanding the harnessable wind resource. Add to this the recent bullish assessments of offshore wind potential, and the enormity of the wind resource becomes apparent. Wind power can meet not only all U.S. electricity needs, but all U.S. energy needs.
In a joint assessment of global wind resources called Wind Force 12, the European Wind Energy Association and Greenpeace concluded that the world's wind-generating potential--assuming that only 10 percent of the Earth's land area would be available for development--is double the projected world electricity demand in 2020.
A far larger share of the land area could be used for wind generation in sparsely populated, wind-rich regions, such as the Great Plains of North America, northwest China, eastern Siberia, and the Patagonian region of Argentina. If the huge offshore potential is added to this, it seems likely that wind power could satisfy not only the world's electricity needs, but perhaps even total energy needs.
Over the past decade, wind has been the world's fastest-growing energy source. Rising from 4,800 megawatts of generating capacity in 1995 to 31,100 megawatts in 2002, it increased a staggering sixfold. Worldwide, wind turbines now supply enough electricity to satisfy the residential needs of 40 million Europeans.
Wind is popular because it is abundant, cheap, inexhaustible, widely distributed, climate-benign, and clean--attributes that no other energy source can match. The cost of wind-generated electricity has dropped from 38 cents a kilowatt-hour in the early 1980s to about 4 cents a kilowatt-hour today on prime wind sites. Some recently signed British and U.S. long-term supply contracts are providing electricity at 3 cents a kilowatt-hour.
Wind Force 12 projected that the average cost per kilowatt-hour of wind-generated electricity would drop to 2.6 cents by 2010 and to 2.1 cents by 2020. U.S. energy consultant Harry Braun says that if wind turbines are mass-produced on assembly lines like automobiles, the cost of wind-generated electricity could drop to 1 to 2 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Although wind-generated electricity already is cheap, its cost continues to fall. In contrast with oil, there is no Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to set prices for wind. And in contrast to natural gas prices, which are highly volatile and can double in a matter of months, wind prices are declining.
Another great appeal of wind is its wide distribution. In the United States, for example, about 28 states now have utility-scale wind farms feeding electricity into the local grid. While a small handful of countries control the world's oil, nearly all countries can tap wind energy.
Denmark leads the world in the share of its electricity from wind--20 percent. In terms of sheer generating capacity, Germany leads with 12,000 megawatts. By the end of 2003, it already will have surpassed its 2010 goal of 12,500 megawatts of generating capacity. For Germany, this rapid growth in wind power is central to reaching its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2020.
Rapid worldwide growth is projected to continue as more countries turn to wind. In addition to the early leaders--Denmark, Germany, Spain, and the United States--many other countries have ambitious plans, including Britain, Brazil, China and France.
In densely populated Europe, the offshore potential for developing wind also is being exploited. Denmark is now building its second offshore wind farm, this one with 160 megawatts of generating capacity. Germany has about 12,000 megawatts of offshore generating capacity under consideration.
Wind power is now a viable, robust and fast-growing industry. Cheap electricity from wind makes it economical to electrolyze water and produce hydrogen. Hydrogen is the fuel of choice for the highly efficient fuel cells that will be used widely in the future to power motor vehicles and to supply electricity, heating and cooling for buildings. Hydrogen also offers a way of storing wind energy and of transporting it efficiently by pipeline or in liquefied form by ship.
With the wind industry's engineering know-how and manufacturing experience, it would be relatively easy to scale up the size of the industry, even doubling it annually for several years, if the need arose.
If, for example, crop-shrinking heat waves raise food prices and generate public pressure to quickly reduce carbon emissions by replacing coal and oil with wind and hydrogen, it would be possible to do so. If the need arises to shift quickly to hydrogen-fueled automobiles, this can be done by converting gasoline-burning internal combustion engines to hydrogen with inexpensive conversion kits.
For energy investors, growth in the future lies with wind and the hydrogen produced with cheap wind-generated electricity. Solar cell sales are growing at more than 30 percent a year and likely will supply much of the electricity for the 1.7 billion people who are still without electricity, most of them living in developing country villages. But solar cells are still too costly to supply the vast amounts of energy required to power a modern economy.
World coal burning peaked in 1996 and has fallen 2 percent since then. It is a fading industry, not an exciting investment prospect. Nor is oil particularly promising, since world production is not likely to expand far beyond current levels.
Production of natural gas, the cleanest and least climate-disruptive of the fossil fuels, likely will continue expanding for a few more decades, fortuitously developing an infrastructure that can be adapted for hydrogen. Nuclear-power generation is expected to peak soon, when the large number of aging plants that will be closing down will exceed the small number of plants that are under construction.
The energy future belongs to wind. The world energy economy became progressively more global during the 20th century as the world turned to oil. It promises to reverse direction and become more local during the 21st century as the world turns to wind, wind-generated hydrogen and solar cells. Wind and wind-generated hydrogen will shape not only the energy sector of the global economy, but the global economy itself.
Brown is president of the U.S.-based Earth Policy Institute.
Canada's largest wind farm is complete
http://biz.yahoo.com/ccn/030702/aefa9c44865cbac2116ef15b2aa07f01_1.html
Hydrogen vehicles will be available within 20 years
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jun/06292003/nation_w/70953.asp
Magna Entertainment Corp. announces closing of purchase of Portland Meadows operating rights
AURORA, ON, June 27 - Magna Entertainment Corp. announced today that two of its wholly-owned subsidiaries
have completed the previously announced purchase of the long-term operating
rights for the Portland Meadows racetrack, together with an interest in the
Portland Meadows real estate, from Portland-based developer Thomas P. Moyer.
This transaction gives MEC the right to operate horse racing at Portland
Meadows on a long-term basis. The financial terms of the transaction were not
disclosed.
MEC, North America's number one owner and operator of horse racetracks,
acquires, develops and operates horse racetracks and related pari-mutuel
wagering operations, including off-track betting facilities. Additionally, MEC
owns and operates XpressBet(TM), a national Internet and telephone account
wagering system, and HorseRacing TV(TM), a 24-hour horse racing television
network.
New and Renewable Forms of Energy
http://www.mrn.gouv.qc.ca/english/energy/forms/forms-new.jsp
Québec has an important potential for generating wind power. The most highly favoured regions in this respect are the Magdalene Islands, the Gaspé Peninsula, Anticosti Island, the Middle and Lower North Shore and the Ungava area. The government is funding a wind measuring campaign designed to evaluate, as accuratly as possible, the wind potential of the most promising regions. (The campaign is being carried out in collaboration with the Université du Québec à Rimouski and the Ohméga Group.) L’Atlas des vents du Québec (the Québec wind atlas) may be consulted using the Éole server, which is the most important of the French-language Web site devoted to wind-energy issues.
Furthermore, over the last five years, nearly $2.3 million has been granted for purposes of gathering data concerning wind-power potential, analysing and processing this information using specialized software, and learning more about the wind potential of the Lower St. Lawrence and North Shore regions and the Gaspé Peninsula.
The world's most northerly windmill park opened
http://www.hydro.com/en/press_room/news/archive/2003_06/havoy_opening_en.html
Major new windpower project in Norway
http://www.hydro.com/en/press_room/news/archive/2003_06/harbak_windpower_en.html
YES to renewable energy
http://www.hydro.com/en/press_room/news/archive/2003_05/renewable_energy_en.html
Computer Intelligence Set to Revolutionize Power Grid
http://www.energyinfosource.com/aoi/news-details.cfm?id=19122&FLink=&tf=8
Solar-powered electricity may solve energy crisis
National News - June 04, 2003
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Gadjah Mada University's Center for Energy Studies (PSE) is offering a solar-powered electricity system as an alternative power source to help overcome the energy crisis that is currently affecting state-owned electricity company PLN.
Head of the PSE Yudi Utomo Imardjoko said that the system would reduce people's dependence on the power supply from PLN.
"We have to be aware that we ourselves can supply our own electricity," he told a press conference on Monday.
Of the various alternative energy sources -- biomass, biogas, geothermal and solar energy -- a study by PSE at the end of 2002 revealed that solar energy was the most feasible source for Indonesian people.
"We can get solar energy everywhere. What we need is investment," Yudi said.
Using a solar-powered electricity system will require between Rp 3 million (US$366) to billions of rupiah for the initial investment, depending on the need.
"But in the long run, the system will be much more economical," he said.
A three kilowatt-hour unit will cost Rp 74 million. The unit will be able to produce a 24-hour electricity of 1,300 watts. After seven years of operation, a customer will save around Rp 680,000 per month.
"The system also requires almost no maintenance except for refilling the battery charger every three months or replacing the battery charger every five years," Yudi said.
The PSE-made solar-powered electricity installation will last for 25 years of operation, he promised.
Another advantage of using the PSE-made installation is it can be used concurrently and continuously with the power supplied by PLN.
The installation will be the main source of power for a house or office. But when the power needs of a house or office increase, then the PLN supply will automatically fill in the additional need.
"The Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) allows such a mechanism to work," Yudi said.
However, he still thinks that the installation cost is too expensive for households.
"We are currently looking for special bank loans for the project," he said, adding that at least two banks have shown interest.
So far, the PSE has established more than 2,000 solar-powered electricity installations in numerous remote areas in the country, particularly those that have not been reached by the PLN network.
It is also preparing to build a one-megawatt solar electricity project in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, in cooperation with PLN.
Solar-powered electricity may solve energy crisis
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20030604.D02&irec=3
Cape Wind Says Electricity Will Power Cape & Islands and Reduce Pollution and Energy Prices
http://www.energyinfosource.com/aoi/news-details.cfm?id=19111&FLink=&tf=1
http://www.masstech.org/offshore
EnCana is "Buying the Beef" in Support of Western Canada's Cattle Industry
CALGARY, June 3 - To show support for Western Canada's beef
industry, Calgary-based EnCana Corporation (EnCana) is partnering with
selected 4-H Beef Clubs in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan to host
community barbecues showcasing Western Canadian beef throughout June and July.
"Beef, oil and gas are mainstays and integral to Western Canada's economy
and heritage," says Florence Murphy, EnCana's Vice-President, Public and
Community Relations. "We all work side by side on the land, so we want to
demonstrate our confidence in our world-class beef industry."
EnCana district employees in all three provinces are being invited to
work with the 4-H Beef Clubs and local news outlets to organize and advertise
the community barbecues in any community where EnCana operates. EnCana will
match funds raised at each event to create a donation to the participating 4-H
Beef Clubs.
"4-H and EnCana share similar values and 4-H is an organization that
helps young people shape their future and has helped guide many members to a
career in agriculture. We hope our support helps maintain the 4-H movement's
vitality. 4-H has had a significant role in building the foundation of the
herds that have made Western Canadian beef famous," said Ms. Murphy.
EnCana is committed to partnerships with the communities in which it
operates throughout the world. EnCana is one of the world's leading
independent oil and gas companies, driven to be the industry's best-in-class
benchmark in production cost, per-share growth and value creation.
Further information on EnCana Corporation is available on www.encana.com.
Energy to burn
Junior oil company Enterra hopes to make the big leagues. Can it go the distance?
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/features/article.jsp;jsessionid=DMCLJPPONBMP?content=20030609_54481_...
There are hundreds of tiny oil and gas companies in Canada hoping to make it into the big leagues. In the mid-1990s, Big Horn Resources was one of them. When Reg Greenslade (above) became CEO of Big Horn in 1995, it was listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange and produced a piddling 30 barrels of oil a day. The company grew at a steady pace under Greenslade but, because it started so small, it never attracted much attention. Five years later, Big Horn was still a penny stock. But the wheel of fortune began to turn in late 2001, after Big Horn merged with Westlinks Resources and the company's name was changed to Enterra Energy Corp. (TSXV: ENT). Greenslade spent the first nine months of 2002 plotting strategy and drilled just eight wells. Then, the Calgary-based company took off like a rocket. In the last three months of 2002, Enterra drilled 54 wells in Alberta. In the first quarter of 2003, it drilled another 13. The company claims a drilling success rate of over 90%. By the end of March, Enterra was producing more than 6,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Production gains and high oil prices are a nice combination. Enterra generated greater cash flow in the first quarter of 2003 than it did in all of 2002. The financial gusher caused its share price to increase more than 160% in the 12 months ending April 4--the 12th-highest return on our Investor 500 list of Canada's largest publicly traded companies. When our researchers calculated Enterra's stock performance, it was trading at $12.67. The share price has since climbed another 30%, closing recently at $16.55. Despite the blistering growth, few Canadians have heard of Enterra. "I think it's because we've grown so quickly," says Greenslade. "In the last quarter of 2002, we really started to become what Enterra is today."
Enterra isn't the only supercharged energy stock in Canada. In our annual ranking of the best-performing stocks, 21 of the top 100 were small and medium-size firms involved in oil and gas exploration. First Calgary Petroleums Ltd. (TSX: FCP), a junior with production in Algeria, led the energy sector with a one-year return of 247.5%. By contrast, some large oil and gas companies had a mediocre year. For instance, EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA) and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (TSX: CNQ), posted returns of -2.8% and -4.9%, respectively.
The data confirm what we already knew: small energy producers offer the potential for big gains--and equally big losses. One notable absentee from the list is Gauntlet Energy. A couple years ago, it led our ranking with the highest one-year return of any company in Canada; today it's in the process of being dissolved. But if your timing is good, and you invest in the right management team, you can do quite well. The juniors aren't all one-year wonders, either. Several oil and gas stocks on the list had impressive three-year returns.
Gastar Exploration Ltd. (TSX: YGA) led the way with a total return of 5,558% since April 2000. But that number is misleading; most of Gastar's gain occurred in a speculative frenzy during the summer of 2000, when the company was converted from a moribund mining firm into a gas exploration play based in Michigan (but registered in Ontario). In the space of a couple months, Gastar's share price went from 4¢ to more than $7. Since then, shareholders have been on a downhill ride. The thinly traded stock recently closed at about $2, and it could keep falling. Management touts some exciting prospects (deep gas wells in California and East Texas and coal-bed methane reserves in Wyoming), but Gastar has yet to turn a profit.
Gastar is an anomaly, however. Other energy stocks with eye-popping three-year returns reported steady gains in production and earnings. Case in point: Ultra Petroleum Corp. (TSX: UP). Its share price has climbed 1,433% since April 2000. The BC-registered, Houston-based natural gas producer operates in Wyoming and China's Bohai Bay. Meanwhile, gas driller Peyto Exploration & Development (TSX: PEY) delivered a three-year gain of 1,100%, continuing a spectacular run that began in 1998. In 2001, it had the highest three-year return on our Investor 500 list, and its founder, Don Gray, appeared on the cover. How long can Gray keep it up? Good question. No cycle lasts forever. But if oil and gas prices remain strong over the coming year, as expected, Peyto could be in for another blockbuster year.
Whether Enterra can duplicate its success and become a reliably strong performer like Peyto is an open question. So far, Greenslade is making all the right moves--increasing production, lowering operating costs and minimizing share dilution.
Running a public oil and gas company wasn't Greenslade's first ambition--but it's worked out well for him. Through Enterra, the 39-year-old entrepreneur has become a paper millionaire. A native of tiny Shaunavon, in the southwest corner of Saskatchewan, Greenslade was planning a career in the aerospace industry when he left home to study mechanical engineering at Montana State. But he abandoned that idea after completing his degree and moved back to Canada to start a career in oil--a business he grew up in (his father was an oil patch entrepreneur). "All my buddies went to work for Boeing," says Greenslade. "But it's a big company. They do a shift change and they have to co-ordinate the streetlights."
Before landing at Big Horn, Greenslade worked for Saskoil and CS Resources in Alberta. The opportunity to run Big Horn was presented to him by a longtime acquaintance, Walter Dawson, one of the company's major shareholders. For the rest of the 1990s, Greenslade slowly built the company. But it was after Big Horn's merger with Westlinks that everything fell into place. In 2002, Enterra made a large oil discovery on its Clair property in northwest Alberta. The oil field is on the shallow side, so relatively easy to exploit, and it contains valuable light crude. Rapid exploitation of the field allowed Enterra to beat its forecast production for the end of 2002 and the first quarter of 2003. At the same time, Enterra says it will lower its operating costs by $2.20 a barrel on the Clair property by installing pipes to move the oil to market (currently it has to be trucked--a costly exercise).
Greenslade has proved to be a capable manager in other ways. Enterra hedged about 40% of its daily oil production in February, when the pending war in Iraq caused a spike in crude prices to the US$37-a-barrel range. Greenslade had the option of locking in at about US$30 in February, but didn't want to leave US$7 on the table. So he took US$29.65 effective April 1. "I've been over to the Middle East," says Greenslade. "Once you get past April you're not going to be doing much over there. It's too hot." He made a good call. As the war wound down in April, prices dropped to the mid-US$20s.
FuelCell Energy and Alliance Power announce agreement to distribute Direct FuelCell® power plants
Danbury, Conn. and Littleton, Colo., June 2, 2003 -- FuelCell Energy, Inc. has signed an agreement with Alliance Power, Inc. to integrate FuelCell Energy's ultra-low emission Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants into Alliance Power's portfolio of distributed generation solutions.
Alliance Power is a developer of distributed generation facilities ranging in size from 1 megawatt to 49 megawatts. Alliance Power will focus its marketing efforts initially in the state of California, seeking to take advantage of high-electric rates, a favorable regulatory environment for fuel cell power plants and currently available state incentives.
"Alliance Power has a proven track record of developing, financing, constructing and operating multi-megawatt distributed generation projects for municipal, industrial and commercial customers," said Herbert T. Nock, senior vice president of marketing and sales of FuelCell Energy, Inc. "Alliance Power is well positioned to integrate our megawatt class DFC products into environmentally sound energy solutions."
"Fuel cell technology is clearly the future for power generation and FuelCell Energy's DFC power plants will enhance our product offerings," said James I. Michael, President of Alliance Power. "In areas with significant environmental issues and with state incentives that support fuel cell technologies, we can offer energy solutions based on FuelCell Energy's products that can be competitive with electricity being purchased from the grid."
Alliance Power designed, permitted and constructed three distributed generation power plants in California - the 42-megawatt Century Generation Project in Colton, the 42-megawatt Drews Generation Project in Colton, and the 40-megawatt Springs Generation Project in Riverside. All three projects are substation applications that supported the expansion and reliability of municipal grid systems.
About Direct FuelCells
Direct FuelCells efficiently generate clean electricity at distributed locations near the customer, including hospitals, schools, universities, hotels and other commercial and industrial facilities, as well as in grid support applications for utility customers. In essence, Direct FuelCells are like large, continuously operating batteries that generate electricity as long as fuel, such as natural gas, is supplied. Since the fuel is not burned, there is no pollution commonly associated with the combustion of fossil fuels. Because hydrogen is generated directly within the fuel cell module from readily available fuels such as natural gas and wastewater treatment gas, DFC power plants are ready today and do not require the creation of a hydrogen infrastructure. This high-efficiency technology generates more electric power from less fuel and with less carbon dioxide emissions than traditional methods using combustion. Operating on biomass fuels, such as wastewater treatment digester gas, Direct FuelCells are a renewable technology.
About FuelCell Energy, Inc.
FuelCell Energy, Inc., based in Danbury, Connecticut, is a specialist in the development and manufacture of highly efficient hydrogen fuel cells for clean electric power generation, currently offering DFC power plant products ranging in size from 250 kilowatts to 2 megawatts for applications up to 50 megawatts.
The company has developed commercial distribution alliances for its carbonate Direct FuelCell technology with MTU CFC Solutions Gmbh, a company of DaimlerChrysler AG, in Europe; Marubeni Corporation in Asia; and Caterpillar, PPL Energy Plus and Chevron Energy Solutions, in the U.S. FuelCell Energy is developing Direct FuelCell technology for stationary power plants with the U.S. Department of Energy through their Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory. More information is available at http://www.fuelcellenergy.com.
About Alliance Power, Inc.
Alliance Power, Inc. has developed economical and environmentally acceptable distributed generation (DG) facilities ranging in size from 1 MW to 49 MW. The company's unique approach to DG projects maximizes the use of existing utility infrastructure to reduce costs. Alliance Power performs all aspects of project implementation including siting, planning, permitting, designing, constructing, financing, and operating. The company has a proven team has the experience and technology to deliver DG power supplies on schedule -- with economical and competitive rates. Alliance Power has a staff experienced in providing power generation development in a variety of settings and for a wide array of clients. Alliance Power's headquarters are located in Littleton, Colorado with regional offices across the U.S. More information is available at http://www.alliancepower.com.
Alternative Energy: Want the Last Laugh?
While Wall Street sneers, savvy investors may find opportunities
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_22/b3835126_mz025.htm
Hydrogenics Corporation Named Canada's Fastest Growing Company By PROFIT Magazine
TORONTO, June 2 --
Hydrogenics Corporation (Nasdaq: HYGS; TSX: HYG), a designer and manufacturer
of fuel cell products, today announced that it has been named Canada's Fastest
Growing Company by PROFIT Magazine.
"The fact that PROFIT Magazine has recognized Hydrogenics as Canada's
fastest growing company over the past five years speaks volumes about the
growing interest in clean power, and the maturation of our company," said
Hydrogenics president and CEO Pierre Rivard. "This prestigious recognition is
a further validation of our business model, which targets early adopters of a
growing number of commercial applications for clean hydrogen power generation
across a broad range of industries."
Magna Entertainment Corp. Announces Closing of Offering of U.S. $100 Million of Convertible Subordinated Notes
AURORA, ON, June 2 - Magna Entertainment Corp. ("MEC") (NASDAQ:
MECA; TSX: MEC.A) announced today that it has completed its previously
announced sale of U.S.$100 million aggregate principal amount of 8.55%
Convertible Subordinated Notes due June 15, 2010.
The Notes will bear interest at 8.55% per annum and will be convertible
into shares of MEC's Class A Subordinate Voting Stock at a conversion price of
U.S.$7.05 per share, subject to customary antidilution adjustments. The Notes
will be redeemable on or after June 2, 2006 at any time in whole or in part at
MEC's option at a redemption price equal to the principal amount of the Notes
plus accrued and unpaid interest to the date of redemption; provided that, in
connection with any redemption occurring on or after June 2, 2006 and before
June 2, 2008, the closing price of MEC's Class A Subordinate Voting Stock has
exceeded 125% of the conversion price for at least 20 trading days in the 30
consecutive trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the mailing
of the redemption notice.
The net proceeds to MEC from the offering, after deducting the initial
purchaser's commission and offering expenses, are approximately
U.S.$96.5 million. MEC intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate
purposes, including capital expenditures.
MEC, North America's number one owner and operator of horse racetracks,
acquires, develops and operates horse racetracks and related pari-mutuel
wagering operations, including off-track betting facilities. Additionally, MEC
owns and operates XpressBet(TM), a national Internet and telephone account
wagering system, and HorseRacing TV(TM), a 24-hour horse racing television
network.
News for Encana Corporation
http://investdb.theglobeandmail.com/invest/investSQL/gx.company_news?pi_company_id=201700