greenswitch – climate change and cleantech solutions

» Merkel macht Wind: Atomkraft, ja bitte – Politik – SPIEGEL ONLINE: “Die Unionsparteien wollen im Fall eines Siegs bei der nächsten Bundestagswahl den von Rot-Grün eingeleiteten Ausstieg aus der Atomenergie wieder rückgängig machen.

DPA

Windenergie: Zukunft unklar

Berlin – Dies kündigte die CDU-Vorsitzende Angela Merkel im Gespräch mit ‘Bild am Sonntag’ an. ‘Eine CDU/CSU-Regierung würde es den Betreibern ermöglichen, Kernkraftwerke so lange zu betreiben, wie sie es wollen’, sagte sie laut Vorabmeldung der Zeitung.

Die CDU-Parteichefin warf der Bundesregierung vor, ‘ganze Märkte ins Ausland zu drängen’. Sie fügte hinzu: ‘Ob Pharmaindustrie, Genforschung oder Kernenergie, viele Zukunftsbranchen werden aus Deutschland vergrault.’ Merkel sagte weiter, sie frage sich ernsthaft, ob die Deutschen ihr Geld künftig alleine mit der ‘unrentablen Windenergie’ verdienen sollten “

How viable are renewable alternatives?

Solaraccess.com: “‘The next morning’s newscasts stated that alternatives to our current power system are much too costly … but are the alternatives that costly?’ asked Christy Herig of Segue consulting. ‘What about solar and efficient use of energy?’

Segue consulting asks us to consider some common myths about solar energy. The greatest of these myths being the amount of land required for photovoltaics (PV). A conservative estimate of the solar energy reaching the ground in the United States is 1,500 kWh per square meter per year (actually ranging from 1200 to over 2000).

With 15 percent solar-to-electricity conversion via PV usable energy is 1500×0.15 = 225 kWh/sq.m/yr. A PV array conversion efficiency of 15 percent is near the upper achievable limit today, but is certainly conservative in the long term and this figure assumes horizontally mounted collectors, hence no provision needed for row spacing or shading considerations.

Assuming that hydrogen would be used as the primary energy storage medium, and using 70 percent for energy-storage-energy round trip efficiency via, e.g., fuel cells, the useable energy collectable by unit of ground surface is 225×0.7 = 158 kWh/sq.m/yr, said the firm.

Providing the entire US energy requirements of 28,000 billion kWh per year would thus require a total collecting area of 17.5 million hectares, said Segue. That is less than the area presently occupied by hydroelectric power plants. “

Are we repeating known mistakes over and over?

» Orion > Orion Magazine > September: “In 2003, a new generation is repeating the mistakes of the ’20s. We have an administration that calls itself conservative, yet countenances with equanimity a rising tide of bankruptcies and unemployment, and a deficit of more than six trillion dollars. We are allowing our state and federal legislators to borrow against pension plans and Social Security funds as if tomorrow will never come.

This fiscal nonchalance shows how little we remember the Depression and its grim teaching: All parties sooner or later come to an end, as many who put their life savings into high-tech stocks have realized.

Our party, like the revels of the carefree summer of 1929, is ending, too. Grave troubles concerning the environment, health, security, food, and water have already begun to arrive. But the mother of them all is the dwindling global supply of cheap energy, upon which modern civilization and global commerce utterly depend. Here is a fundamental problem that will not go away. All of the oil in Iraq, all of the oil in the Caspian region, all of the oil in Russia, all of the oil that may be under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and all of the potential supplies that have yet to be discovered and developed anywhere will not be enough to meet the increasingly ravenous demand of industry, transportation, agribusiness, consumerism, and other modern sinkholes for cheap energy, even in the short term.”

Can Alberta’s oil sands replace Arabia’s?

Interesting article and good comments on this site.

» EnergyPulse: “But despite the promise, it is far too early to bid farewell to the Middle East. Alberta’s oil sands may be close geographically but they fall short of providing a viable solution to America’s growing oil needs.

There are two main methods to extract oil from sands. One requires surface mining– meaning the removal of hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile ground, ruining everything on it in the process–to reach the underlying oil sand. About two tons of sands must be mined to produce one barrel of crude oil. Using current technology and at today’s oil prices, only about 20% of the Alberta’s oil sands can be mined this way and even that at an enormous cost to the surrounding area.

The majority of the sands are located in deeper layers, 75 yards and below, and can be recovered by a different method without removing tons of ground or the sand itself. The method entails either heating or diluting the bitumen, making it liquid enough to accumulate in a well and then be pumped to the surface. However, this technique poses severe groundwater contamination problems due to leakage of the diluting materials.

The main drawback of oil sands is that the energy required for both extraction methods is so huge as to offset the amount of energy the extracted oil ultimately yields. The many trucks, shovels and other heavy equipment needed to remove tons of ground — enough to fill Yankee Stadium every two days — in order to expose the oil sands and then haul the sands away “

Super power powered by Third World power generators

How about actually saving some energy? I am sure if Americans had a choice of ‘more expensive energy or none’ they would pay more for energy and probably use less. There has been lots of media coverage on this in Germany and all experts agree: This would never happen in Europe.

Environmental minister Juergen Trittin with the Green Party explains that for example Americans use even electricity to cool down or heat up rooms while “we actually know how to isolate our houses”, he said. Also, all European power plants are very well connected (unlike in the states of the US) which means even other European power networks could help balancing out loads. Of course, the heat brings entirely different problems to Europeans.

» Blackout puzzles US authorities – theage.com.au: “Former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said the nation’s power grid is antiquated.

‘We’re the world’s greatest superpower, but we have a Third World electricity grid,’ said Richardson, governor of New Mexico.”

Will Calgary be the next Kuwait?

Next time you go to Calgary Rodeo, watch out: all Camels…In this city it is all about oil, of course…You will need a NY Times subscription to read the entire opion piece. Following the filets of this piece.

» New York Times: Will Calgary Be the Next Kuwait?

America has many reasons for its risky involvement in Middle East politics, but there is no question that dependence on imported oil plays a very large role. The fact is, however, that the largest deposits of oil in the world are not in the Middle East – or in Russia or off West Africa or in the Caspian Sea area, for that matter. They are in two Western Hemisphere countries: Venezuela and Canada.

…

Canada’s deposits are even larger [than the Venezuelan]: estimates range from 1.6 trillion to 2.5 trillion barrels of bitumen (which is also called “oil sands” or “tar sands”). About 9 percent of the deposits are relatively close to the surface and should have very high recovery rates – at least 50 percent and possibly up to 90 percent. Combining this with a very modest 5 percent ecovery rate for the deeper bitumen, and the country’s total potential reserves can be estimated at 174 billion to 271 billion barrels.

Like it or not, we will not wean ourselves from imported oil for decades. And heavy oil has some things to recommend it. Oil reserves are rapidly dwindling in the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia alone keeps producing nine million barrels a day. By contrast, just two million barrels of heavy oil are produced each day, and there’s plenty of it.

Hydrogen hype: Better think twice?!

Check this site, interesting points.

» ScienceDaily News Release: Hydrogen-fueled Cars Not Best Way To Cut Pollution, Greenhouse Gases And Oil Dependency: “Hydrogen-fueled Cars Not Best Way To Cut Pollution, Greenhouse Gases And Oil Dependency

Berkeley – As politicians and the public leap aboard the hydrogen fuel bandwagon, a University of California, Berkeley, energy expert suggests we all step back and take a critical look at the technology and consider simpler, cheaper options.

In a paper appearing in the July 18 issue of Science magazine, Alex Farrell, assistant professor of energy and resources at UC Berkeley, and David Keith, associate professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, present various short- and long-term strategies that they say would achieve the same results as switching from gasoline-powered vehicles to hydrogen cars.

‘Hydrogen cars are a poor short-term strategy, and it’s not even clear that they are a good idea in the long term,’ said Farrell. ‘Because the prospects for hydrogen cars are so uncertain, we need to think carefully before we invest all this money and all this public effort in one area.’”

Worldwide largest solar power plant planned

2800 pv modules, each of a size of 48 square meters on 77 ha: Germany’s PV company Solon AG has ambitious plans — to build the worldwide largest solar power plant. The solar power plant will be built in Southern Germany will produce energy for 5.500 households, it will cost 90 million Euros — not exactly a cheap ticket.

translate source below using google translation

» Weltgrößte Solaranlage – Arnstein Standort für Alega-Projekt: “Die geplante Anlage der Berliner Firma SOLON AG »soll den Angaben nach eine Fläche von etwa 77 Hektar in Anspruch nehmen. Mit rund 2800 Photovoltaikmodulen, die jeweils 48 Quadratmeter groß sind, soll sie Strom für 5500 Privathaushalte produzieren. Die geplante Investitionssumme wurde mit etwa 90 Millionen Euro beziffert.

Environmental impact on our society

A little older but still interesting site with lots of useful information.

» The ExternE project series: “A major EU funded research study undertaken over the past 10 years has proven that the cost of producing electricity from coal or oil would double and the cost of electricity production from gas would increase by 30% if external costs such as damage to the environment and to health were taken into account.

It is estimated that these costs amount up to 1-2 % of the EU’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), not including the cost of global warming. They have to be covered by society at large, since they are not included in the bills which electricity consumers pay. The EXTERNE project, which was undertaken by researchers from all EU Member States and the United States of America, was designed to quantify these socio-environmental costs of electricity production.”

Canada: One billion plan for Kyoto

Prime Minister Chretien is working strongly at his legacy.

» CBC News: Ottawa pledges $1 billion to back Kyoto: “The federal government unveiled a billion-dollar plan for battling global climate change Tuesday, but it takes Canada only a small step toward meeting its commitment under the Kyoto Protocol. “

The plan aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 20,000 tonnes over the next five years.

» Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | George Monbiot on climate change: “With eyes wide shut

Climate change threatens the future of humanity, but we refuse to respond rationally “

We live in a dream world. With a small, rational part of the brain, we recognise that our existence is governed by material realities, and that, as those realities change, so will our lives. But underlying this awareness is the deep semi-consciousness that absorbs the moment in which we live, then generalises it, projecting our future lives as repeated instances of the present. This, not the superficial world of our reason, is our true reality. All that separates us from the indigenous people of Australia is that they recognise this and we do not.

» Efficient use of energy harbors large savings potential: “The demand for electricity in Germany can be reduced by 12 percent by the year 2020. It is both technically and economically feasible and requires, in addition to concerted efforts to exploit renewable energies, drastic energy savings measures and increasing energy efficiency.

This would coincide with a considerable abatement of climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 80 percent in 2050 as compared to 1990. These are the findings of a study carried out by the Federal Environmental Agency on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment.”

…

According to the Federal Environmental Agency, the impact on health and the environment of particulate matter and NOx emissions make it necessary to further reduce waste gas caps of diesel engine vehicles. The technology to do so is already available. The UBA has issued a recommendation on how to modify the caps for particulate matter and NOx in effect as of 2005, namely EURO 4 for passenger cars and EUROIV/V for commercial vehicles.

The UBA’s recommendation is: a EURO 5 particulate cap for passenger cars of .0025 g/km should correspond to an emissions reduction of 90 percent as compared to the EURO 4 cap. The NOx cap of .08 g/km for diesel passenger cars would correspond to the cap for Otto engine passenger cars in effect starting in 2005 with EURO 4.

» The Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt) – Start Page: “A Guide to Environmental Institutions in Germany

Ice bridges are not what they’re used to be

If you want to drill for oil in Alaska, you’ll better build some good streets or soild ships because global warming will turn ice bridges into mud holes. No wonder Governor Murkowski (Alaska, see below) is in such a hurry.

» Planet Ark : Warming Climate Challenges Alaska Oil Drillers: “The Arctic chill is not what it used to be. Just ask the oil companies that depend on long periods of hard freeze to haul heavy equipment and drill into the tundra of Alaska’s North Slope.

In past years, companies could start that work in November. Now they commonly wait until January. In 1970, there were over 200 days with sufficient snow and ice to meet state standards for safe tundra travel; now that period is half as long, Alaska Department of Natural Resources statistics show. As a result, oil searches are too rushed and costly, industry officials say.”

Alaska Gov.: Please, come and drill

It’s all about economic interests — too bad politicians are such short term thinkers.

» Oil & Gas Journal – search for petroleum, power and energy articles: “Alaska governor Frank H. Murkowski is urging congressional task force members studying US natural gas supply alternatives to visit Alaska to evaluate firsthand that state’s potential role in supplying gas to the Lower 48.

In letters to Energy Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin and House Committee on Resources Chairman Richard Pombo this week, Murkowski stressed that Alaska’s North Slope contains 35 tcf of proven reserves, with another 65 tcf estimated. He said the $20 billion pipeline system required to make this gas available to the Lower 48 is a better alternative than importing volumes in the form of LNG, which would cost at least $26 billion.

‘And, it is better for the United States from a balance-of-payments point of view,’ said Murkowski. “

» BBC NEWS | Business | Energy firm counts cost of clean air: “A major Chinese energy firm has said it expects the cost of complying with China’s anti-pollution laws to almost double in the next two years, according to the Reuters news agency.

Huaneng Power International (HPI) executives said on Thursday that pollution compliance costs are expected to reach 220m yuan ($26.6m; £16.5m) in its 2004 financial year, Reuters said.

HPI said it expected compliance costs to rise to 420m yuan in 2005.

The Chinese parliament’s standing committee approved new, tougher anti-pollution laws in July 2002. “

» Los Angeles Times: Bush Team Makes Federal Lands More Open to Oil, Gas Drilling: “The Bush administration on Thursday directed government land managers to remove environmental and procedural obstacles that are slowing development of oil and gas resources in several areas in the West that have high potential for energy production.

Oil industry representatives applauded the policy changes, which they say will streamline the bureaucracy involved in energy production on federal lands.

But environmental groups accused the Bush administration of sacrificing environmental quality in its effort to boost energy production in government-managed areas.”

Rock me up — energy from stones?

I wonder how much water they would need?

» smh.com.au – The Sydney Morning Herald: “Searing heat from the core of the earth may be harnessed in South Australia to become a potentially massive, clean energy source.

In South Australia’s remote Cooper Basin, a source of natural gas for more than 30 years, the hottest and deepest well drilled in Australia has been sunk 4.5 kms into the earth’s surface, where temperatures reach 270C.

‘This is the hottest spot on earth outside volcanoes,’ says Bertus de Graaf, managing director of Geodynamics, the publicly listed company that hopes to turn energy from the earth’s core into commercial power.

The $2.7 billion South Australian retailer Origin Energy announced yesterday it would become a cornerstone investor in the project, taking about a 20 per cent share of the company and joining Metasource, a wholly owned subsidiary of Woodside Petroleum, as a major investor.”

Renewable beer brewing in Colorado

New Belgium is the first wind powered brewery in America — eliminating 1,800 tonnes (metric tons) of CO2 emissions per year. Hopefully it also tastes well…By the way, these are my all-time German beer favorites: Augustiner Bräu, Schneider Weisse, Gaffel Kölsch, Schumacher Alt and Budweiser Pils （the real deal from Czech Republic).

Japan: DoCoMo cell phones powered by fuel cells to come soon?

It would be interesting to learn more about costs, efficiency, storage and infrastructure. Is NTT going to provide their own infrastructure or is someone else going to sell the cartridges? And for how much will they go and how long will they last? Are cartridges going to be rechargeable or disposable?

» Platinum cell phones: “Cell phones containing platinum are likely to hit the market next year after an announcement by Japan’s DoCoMo that it will start shipping 3G phones that will use fuel cells instead of batteries.

Fuel cells require platinum as a major component to enable them to generate energy. Platinum increases electrical conductivity in PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cells. It is critical to fuel cell commercialization and can alone command 10% to 20% of a fuel cell system’s cost. Accepting the U.S. Department of Energy’s target for platinum use in fuel cell vehicles – 0.2 grams per kilowatt – total platinum use by fuel cell systems could bring an 8% to 12% increase to the world demand for platinum by 2013, according to ABI projections.”